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A 10-year-old boy allegedly died after following the trend on TikTok 'Blackout Challenge'. The mother also filed a lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company -- ByteDance.
Tawainna Anderson said her son, Nylah, was unconscious after taking part in the challenge. Five days of intensive care, his son breathed his last on December 7, 2021.
Anderson blamed TikTok for feeling there was an 'imperfect design' of the TikTok algorithm so that his children could be exposed to the content.
"The viral and deadly TikTok Blackout Challenge was thrust in front of Nylah on her TikTok For Your Page... as a result of the TikTok algorithm," said the lawsuit, seen by NBC News, Tuesday (17/5/2022).
"Defendants TikTok's algorithm determined that the deadly Blackout Challenge was well-designed and likely attractive to 10-year-old Nylah Anderson, and she died as a result," the lawsuit continues.
As the name suggests, the 'Blackout' challenge requires participants to hold their breath or otherwise suffocate themselves until they pass out. The lawsuit alleges that there were four other deaths linked to the challenge.
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Of course it's a stupid and dangerous challenge, shortness of breath is very dangerous and can result in unconsciousness and even death.
"I want to hold this company accountable," Tawainna said at a press conference.
"It's time for this dangerous challenge to end, other families don't experience the heartbreak we live with every day."
TikTok has not commented on the case, as reported by IFL Science, but in a previous statement TikTok said that this is a disturbing challenge, which people seem to learn from sources other than TikTok.
"It's been around for a long time before our platform and it's never been TikTok trending," said TikTok.
TikTok added that they are committed to removing content related to the 'Blackout Challenge' from their platform.