The families of two young girls who died after participating in TikTok's 'blackout challenge' have filed a lawsuit against the social media platform, alleging its algorithms promoted the dangerous content. The suit was filed on Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The victims are eight-year-old Lalani Erika Renee Walton of Temple, Texas, and nine-year-old Arriani Jaileen Arroyo of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Both died in 2021 after attempting the challenge, which involves choking oneself until losing consciousness.
According to the complaint, Lalani received a phone for her eighth birthday and quickly became addicted to TikTok. She began seeing videos of the blackout challenge weeks before her death on 15 July 2021. Arriani, who also used TikTok multiple times a day, died on 26 February 2021 after being found not breathing by her brother.
The families are represented by the Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC), which argues that TikTok's algorithm intentionally pushed the challenge to the children. 'TikTok needs to be held accountable for pushing deadly content to these two young girls,' said Matthew P Bergman, founding attorney of SMVLC.
The lawsuit claims TikTok knew the challenge was spreading but prioritised profit over safety. It also alleges the platform fails to warn users of its addictive nature and allows underage users. TikTok has faced previous criticism over dangerous challenges, including the 'milk crate challenge' and 'Benadryl challenge'.
