Parents Sue Tiktok Blackout Challenge: The internet can be a dangerous place. It is proving to be true because of tragic things happening due to the harmful content available online. Out of enthusiasm, people take part in the trending online challenges, and sometimes they end up losing their own lives or killing others.
In a tragic incident, two girls died after taking part in the deadly ‘Blackout Challenge’ by TikTok. The parents of the girls have sued the company over this and have filed a lawsuit on 30th June in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The girls have been identified as 8-year-old Lalani Erika Renee Walton from Temple, Texas, and 9-year-old Arriani Jaileen Arroyo from Milwaukee. They tried to perform the challenge last year and died.
The ‘Blackout Challenge’ challenges you to choke yourself until you lose consciousness. And when you gain consciousness, you will have to upload your video of performing it. The challenge is also called the ‘Choking Challenge’ or ‘Pass out Challenge.’ The girls tried the same but died. Till now, seven kids have lost their lives due to this challenge.
The complaint against the company also mentions that no proper warning was given in the challenge details. Also, the lawsuit has referred to the ‘For You’ page of TikTok, which shows the videos that are added to the page by the algorithm by keeping users’ likes, demography, and past online activity in mind.
The Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC) is representing the parents in the case. This is a law firm that sues social media platforms for issues that can harm users.
This is not the first time TikTok is facing a lawsuit. Earlier, the mother of a girl sued the company for the same challenge. Her daughter also died. She was from Pennsylvania
Other victims of the challenge are:
- A 10-year-old child from Italy died in January 2021
- A 12-year-old child from Colorado died in March 2021
- A 14-year-old child from Australia died in June 2021
- A 12-year-old child from Oklahoma died in July 2021
The spokesperson from TikTok’s side has not given any comments on the recent matter yet. However, the company has issued a statement and has assured to remove any related videos from its platform. In the introduction part of its community guidelines, TikTok has mentioned that if it finds any content that violates its guidelines, it is removed.
These kinds of incidents show why children should not be given smartphones at a quite young age. The parents of Lalani and Arriani gifted them smartphones at the age of 8 and 7 years, respectively.
