TikTok sued over deaths of 4 children after viral challenge

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The parents of four British teens have sued TikTok, claiming that their children died as a result of viral trends (challenges) that circulated on the video-sharing platform in 2022.

According to their parents, Isaac Kenevan, Archie Battersbee, Julian “Jools” Sweeney, and Maia Walsh perished while attempting the “blackout challenge” trend.

According to the BBC, the US-based Social Media Victims Law Centre filed the complaint against TikTok and its parent firm ByteDance on Thursday on behalf of the children’s parents.

Meanwhile, TikTok has prohibited searches for videos or hashtags relating to the challenge since 2020.

TikTok explained that it does not allow dangerous content or challenges on its site and directs users who seek for hashtags or videos to its Safety Centre.

The complaint was brought in the Superior Court of Delaware on behalf of Isaac’s mother Lisa Kenevan, Archie’s mother Hollie Dance, Jools’ mother Ellen Roome, and Maia’s father Liam Walsh.

It claims the deaths were “the foreseeable result of ByteDance’s engineered addiction-by-design and programming decisions”, which were “aimed at pushing children into maximizing their engagement with TikTok by any means necessary”.

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