They are suing TikTok for the death of several children, trying to stage a viral “challenge”

TikTok, the popular video app developed by ByteDance, has received several lawsuits from parents alleging that their children died after trying to recreate a viral challenge called “darken call‘, as it turned out Washington Post, which details one of these complaints: the complaints of the mother of one of the little deceased; Nyla Anderson, 10 years old.

The challenge specifically consists of grenades while the user strangles themselves with a rope, belt, bag strap, etc. to the point of losing consciousness; an action that could easily lead to death. In fact, as reported The Verge, There are 5 people who died after trying to mimic the above challenge.. All of them, minors between the ages of 10 and 14, are Americans, Italians and Australians.

Parents report that the app was what encouraged toddlers to complete tasks, after the platform’s algorithm showed adult videos recreating it. In the lawsuit, Nyla Anderson’s mother also alleges that “TikTok programs kids for corporate profits and promotes addiction.”

TikTok responds to the demands of parents whose children died for recreating a viral challenge

TikTok, for its part, claims in a statement to Washington Post that the “blackout challenge” is not a call coming from the platform and that it has never become a trend on TikTok. Thus, it is assumed that it was not virusized or advertised to users, as is the case with other viral challenges. Video application also ensures that you have removed all those posts that show call and continues to work on removing new posts from the social network. The #BlackoutChallenge hashtag also doesn’t work.

However, TikTok’s claims do not match those of two parents who also lost their children to the ordeal. They assure, as the mother of little Nyla Anderson, that the app showed the video in the For You section; an area that shows clips recommended by the platform or that might be of interest to that user. On the other hand, they mention that small did not perform any special search for this call.

In connection with this new lawsuit, the company again claimed that the call did not come from the platform and that it was distributed on the network long before it began to be published on TikTok.