The parents of two girls who died in a 2021 “blackout challenge” on TikTok that encouraged users to choke themselves until they passed out filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Represented by the Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC), a legal resource for parents of children harmed by social media addiction and abuse, they claim that the platform’s “dangerous algorithm intentionally and repeatedly” pushed videos of the challenge into children’s feeds, giving them motivation. to participate in the challenge that ultimately took their lives. “TikTok must be held accountable for promoting deadly content to these two young girls,” said Matthew P Bergman, SMVLC’s founding attorney. “TikTok has invested billions of dollars to deliberately design products that promote dangerous content that it knows is dangerous and can lead to the death of its users.” One victim, eight-year-old Lalani Erika Renee Walton of Temple, Texas, is described as “an extremely sweet and outgoing young girl” who “loved to dress up as a princess and play with makeup.” He died on July 15, 2021 in what police determined was “a direct result of TikTok’s attempted ‘Blackout Challenge,’” according to the complaint. Lalani Erika Renee Walton. Photo: Courtesy of the family Lalani had received a phone for her eighth birthday in April 2021 and “quickly became addicted to watching TikTok videos,” the complaint said. She often posted videos of herself singing and dancing, hoping to become “TikTok famous”. In July 2021, her family began noticing bruises on Lalani’s neck, which she explained as an accident. Unbeknownst to them, she had started participating in the blackout challenge, which had first appeared on her feed weeks before. On the day of her death, Lalani had spent hours on a family road trip watching videos, including posts of the challenge. “She also believed that if she posted a video of herself doing the Blackout Challenge, then she would become famous, so she decided to give it a try,” the complaint said. “Lalani was eight years old at the time and did not appreciate or understand the dangerous nature of what TikTok was encouraging her to do.” The other victim named in the suit, nine-year-old Arriani Jaileen Arroyo of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, received a phone when she was seven and used TikTok multiple times a day, according to the complaint. She gradually became obsessed with posting dance videos on TikTok and became “addicted” to the app. In January 2021, Arriani’s family discussed with her an incident of a young TikTok user who died as a result of a challenge, but Arriani assured them that she would never participate in dangerous videos. Arriani Jaileen Arroyo. Photo: Courtesy of the family However, on February 26, 2021, she was found not breathing by her five-year-old brother. He was rushed to a local hospital, but was eventually taken off life support. “TikTok undoubtedly knew that the deadly Blackout Challenge was spreading through its app and that its algorithm specifically fed the Blackout Challenge to children, including those who died,” the complaint states. The lawsuit lists a number of allegations against TikTok, including that its algorithm promotes harmful content, allows underage users on the app and fails to warn users or their legal guardians about the app’s addictive nature. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has been criticized in the past for allowing dangerous challenges to spread. Doctors reported that the 2021 “milk crate challenge,” which encouraged users to stack and climb on milk crates, led to dislocated shoulders, ACL tears and even spinal cord injuries. In 2020, a 15-year-old girl died after participating in the “Benadryl challenge,” in which users took a large amount of antihistamines in an attempt to induce hallucinogenic effects. In 2020, two minors were charged with assault after participating in the “skull breaker” challenge, which caused a victim to have a seizure. SMVLC’s lawyers claimed that the company knowingly allowed such content to proliferate on the platform because it increased engagement, user numbers and ultimately profit. “TikTok prioritized larger corporate profits over the health and safety of its users and, in particular, the health and safety of vulnerable children TikTok knew or should have known were actively using its product on social media,” they reported. The Walton and Arroyo families are seeking an unspecified amount in damages and have requested a jury trial in California.
