Four families of British children have sued TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance.

The families allege that the children died after attempting the "blackout challenge," a dangerous behavior that encourages participants to asphyxiate themselves until they lose consciousness.

The families are seeking access to their children's social media data to understand the circumstances surrounding their deaths. However, TikTok has stated that some of the requested data may have already been deleted due to legal requirements for data removal.

The wrongful death lawsuit claims that TikTok's algorithm pushed dangerous prank and challenge videos to children to boost engagement, despite the platform's policies against promoting harmful activities. TikTok has responded by stating that it proactively removes 99 percent of content that violates its rules before it is even reported.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/feb/07/tiktok-sued-over-deaths-of-children-said-to-have-attempted-blackout-challenge

Commentary

The "blackout challenge," also known as the "choking game" or "pass-out challenge," involves participants depriving themselves of oxygen to achieve a high, which causes them to lose consciousness and faint. This challenge is extremely dangerous for several reasons:

• Risk of Brain Damage and Death: Asphyxiation can lead to permanent brain damage and death in less than five minutes. Lack of oxygen to the brain for more than three minutes can cause brain damage, and more than five minutes can result in death.
• Lack of Supervision: Children often attempt this challenge alone in their bedrooms, without any supervision or safeguards. This increases the risk of fatal outcomes if they lose consciousness and are unable to revive themselves.
• Misleading Perception of Safety: Participants may believe that the challenge is harmless or just a "laugh," not realizing the severe consequences of depriving their brain of oxygen.

The final takeaway is that the combination of these factors makes the blackout challenge particularly hazardous to children.

Sources: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/blackout-challenge-tiktok-sued-childrens-deaths-b1022687.html https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/blackout-challenge-tiktok-sued-childrens-deaths-b1022687.html; https://theweek.com/tiktok/957825/tiktok-blackout-challenge-why-its-so-dangerous; and https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/what-is-tiktok-blackout-challenge-why-parents-suing/