"Blackout Challenge"

TikTok goes to court over death of ten-year-old

TikTok must answer for the death of a ten-year-old user in the USA. On Tuesday (local time), an appeals court allowed a corresponding lawsuit against the short video platform because it reinterpreted a law.

In principle, Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act of 1996 protects internet companies from being held liable for user content. However, this does not apply to algorithms that recommend certain content to users, wrote Judge Patty Shwartz. Although this interpretation is a departure from previous case law, it is based on a ruling by the Supreme Court from July 2024.

"Decides on content"
"TikTok makes decisions about the content that is recommended and promoted to certain users, thereby exercising its own freedom of expression," it continues. TikTok did not initially respond to the ruling.

Support came from Jeffrey Goodman, the lawyer for the mother of the ten-year-old who died. She died in 2021 during the so-called "Blackout Challenge". In this challenge, users film themselves squeezing the air out until they faint. The girl had strangled herself with one of her mother's handbag straps.