The families of two young girls who died after participating in a viral 'blackout challenge' on TikTok have filed a lawsuit against the social media platform, alleging its algorithms promoted dangerous content. The challenge encouraged users to choke themselves until they lost consciousness.
Filed on Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the suit claims TikTok's algorithm 'intentionally and repeatedly' pushed videos of the challenge to the children, leading to their deaths. The families are represented by the Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC), which argues the platform prioritised profit over safety.
One victim, eight-year-old Lalani Erika Renee Walton from Texas, died on 15 July 2021. According to the complaint, she became addicted to TikTok after receiving a phone for her eighth birthday and began attempting the blackout challenge after seeing it on her feed. Her family noticed bruising on her neck but she dismissed it as an accident.
The other victim, nine-year-old Arriani Jaileen Arroyo from Wisconsin, died on 26 February 2021. She had used TikTok multiple times daily and became obsessed with posting dance videos. Despite discussing the dangers of such challenges with her family, she was found unresponsive by her five-year-old brother and later taken off life support.
The lawsuit accuses TikTok of promoting harmful content, allowing underage users, and failing to warn about the app's addictive nature. It cites previous dangerous challenges on the platform, including the 'milk crate challenge' and 'Benadryl challenge', which caused injuries and deaths. SMVLC attorney Matthew Bergman stated, 'TikTok needs to be held accountable for pushing deadly content to these two young girls.'
