About That Harmless TikTok Thing
July 25, 2022
As a tool, the Internet and social media platforms do not officially kill people. Users do stupid things that end up getting them killed. It just so happens that YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms share stupid ideas and the idiots copy them. YouTube used to be the go-to place for Internet challenges such as planking, ice bucket challenge, and trust falls. TikTok is now the place to get dumb challenges such as the Tide pod challenge and more recently the “blackout challenge. The Verge shares what the challenge is and how people died in, “The TikTok “Blackout Challenge” Has Now Allegedly Killed Seven Kids.”
The blackout challenge is where users record videos strangling themselves with various items: belts, purse straps, shoelaces, etc. until they pass out. Seven kids have reportedly died from the challenge and parents are filing lawsuits against TikTok. The latest victims were nine-year-old Arriani Arroyo and eight-year-old Lalani Walton. The five other victims range between 10-14 years old and are from the United States, Italy, and Australia.
TikTok claims it prevents users from searching for the blackout challenge or warnings are placed on the videos. Parents of the victims assert differently:
“However, Smith and Arroyo’s newer suit alleges that their children weren’t searching for challenges when they saw the videos. Instead, it says, TikTok put it right in front of them on the app’s main screen, the For You page. The suit accuses the company of having ‘specifically curated and determined that these Blackout Challenge videos – videos featuring users who purposefully strangulate themselves until losing consciousness – are appropriate and fitting for small children.’”
The parents believe TikTok should be held accountable for the content it shows children and should do more to monitor dangerous content. TikTok paid $5.7 million to the FTC in 2019 when it allowed kids under thirteen to create an account without their parents’ permission. TikTok also has Family Pairing that allows parents to link their accounts to their kids’ and control the amount of content and how much time they spend on the platform.
Family Pairing is a brilliant idea, especially if parents vigilantly monitor what their kids watch. TikTok should prevent dangerous items from being seen on its platform too. Maybe TikTok should have a warning that says, “Kids don’t try this at home” like TV has.
Whitney Grace, July 25, 2022
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