What is TikTok’s blackout challenge?
TIKTOK is being sued by the families of two young girls who allegedly died attempting the blackout challenge.
They believe the platform's "dangerous algorithm" continued to push videos of the online challenge into the children’s feeds in the lead up to their deaths.
What is the TikTok blackout challenge?
The blackout challenge is an online trend that encourages users to choke themselves until the point of losing consciousness, before uploading the results to TikTok.
The dangerous online challenge has existed before and has previously been known as the “Pass Out Challenge,” "The Game of Choking", "Speed Dreaming" or "The Fainting Game".
It is believed that millions of videos of people have attempted the life-threatening task challenge on platforms such as YouTube since it gained mainstream popularity in 2021.
Medical professionals warned that the trend can lead to fainting, brain damage, seizures and even death.
Joshua Haileyesus, a 12-year-old from Colorado, died in April 2021 after trying the task.
As did a 12 year-old boy died who was found “unresponsive" with “ligature marks” around his neck in an Oklahoma apartment.
It followed the tragic death of a teen in June 2021, and a 10-year-girl who attempted the challenge in Italy in January 2021.
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A year later, the social media platform was prompted to take further action in wake of the high profile case of Archie Battersbee.
The 12-year-old Brit was left in a coma after suffering a "freak accident" at his home in Southend, Essex, on April 7, 2022.
His mum Hollie Dance said she found the young boy with a ligature over his head, and thinks he might have been taking part in the online challenge.
After over a week at his bedside, Hollie told the : "It’s a freak accident which resulted in a brain injury and I’m just reliving it constantly."
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On July 6, the platform was then sued by the families of two children following their deaths in 2021.
As reported by , the lawsuit listed a number of complaints against the social media platform, including that its algorithm promotes harmful content, allows underage users on the app, and it fails to warn users or their legal guardians of the app’s addictive nature.
What has TikTok said about the blackout challenge?
In the wake of a fatal incident in 2021, TikTok condemned the "challenge" but said they'd found no evidence of content on their platform.
TikTok told : "We do not allow content that encourages, promotes, or glorifies dangerous behavior that might lead to injury, and our teams work diligently to identify and remove content that violates our policies.
"While we have not currently found evidence of content on our platform that might have encouraged such an incident off-platform, we will continue to monitor closely as part of our continuous commitment to keep our community safe."
How can I report the blackout challenge?
TikTok has continued to urge users to report people that are participating in the challenge in the hope it will stop it spreading online.
Any user concerned by something they see, can click the white arrow on the right-hand side of the video then hitting "Report".
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There you can then select the category "Suicide, Self-harm and Dangerous Acts".
Furthermore, if you see anybody taking part in the challenge, or if anyone encourages you to take part, please report the account immediately and do not reply.