Parents of deceased girls go to court

Two American girls have died after the dangerous “Blackout Challenge” on TikTok. The families have now jointly filed a lawsuit against the platform. TikTok and its algorithms are to blame for the deaths of their eight and nine-year-old children.

TikTok in court for “blackout challenge”.

Last year, the so-called “Blackout Challenge” made the rounds on TikTok, in which users were asked to choke until they fainted. Two girls from the USA, only eight and nine years old, died after participating in the challenge. The families of the two girls have now filed a lawsuit against the Chinese video platform in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The parents of the deceased children accuse TikTok of “repeatedly and intentionally” promoting the dangerous challenge in the two girls’ timeline. They would have felt motivated to take part in it. In the lawsuit is from “dangerous algorithms” the speech that ultimately led to the death of the two children.

Attorney Matthew Bergman from the Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC), who represents the complaining parents, sees TikTok as responsible. The company would have invested billions of dollars to develop products that “push dangerous content”. TikTok would know that some of the challenges can be deadly for its users. TikTok would have known all about the “Blackout Challenge” too.

The families are demanding from TikTok damages at an amount that has not been made public (source: The Guardians).

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Police confirm death after TikTok challenge

According to American police, one of the girls died on July 15, 2021 directly to the mentioned TikTok challenge. It is said to have dreamed of becoming famous on the platform. The two girls are said to have received their own smartphone only a few months before their death.