The Deadly Side of TikTok Viral Challenges

TikTok acknowledges that it can be a dangerous place for children and seeks to scrub risky videos. Still, some get through and kids get hurt. In the case of the "blackout challenge," some have died. Now families are filing lawsuits against the company to try and answer the question: who is responsible for these deaths?
Warning: Some viewers may find the subject matter of this video disturbing.
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[@arupdeb45]

As someone from a 'not so developed' country, just out of curiosity, why did a 9 year old have a phone?

[@metaforically]

9 is the new 18 😔

[@maximusasauluk7359]

After seeing this shit, my future child in not getting a phone until they're 13

[@hepotiricly]

Because it’s a cheap phone. That’s why

[@blarze16]

why not?

[@SteeperHornet52]

@@maximusasauluk7359 I'm a junior in high school rn and don't have a phone. sometimes it's annoying, not being able to text friends and such, but I am sure I will appreciate it when I am grown.

[@user-do8kw5ox9l]

People have called me boring, uninteresting, or backwards for not having TikTok on my phone. If preserving my own dignity as a human being is bad, then so be it.

[@QueenetBowie]

You sure you wouldn’t prefer Xi Jin Ping reading through your texts?

[@robbiematthews168]

@@QueenetBowieI’d rather not go down that rabbit hole😂💀

[@shadykitty7493]

no 1 cares

[@robbiematthews168]

@@shadykitty7493 there watching all of us, but technology is catching up to fast for privacy to be a thing anymore..

[@apocalypsepow]

Who TF called you that

[@Itsmikebitch]

The problem is 9 year old using tiktok

[@andrewkaylor2416]

As an 80s baby, I can say this "challenge" was one that was present in elementary schools growing up. Social media and AI algo's take things to a whole new level, regardless of the content. IMO, the users/community needs to take responsibility and everyone needs to be content moderators, not just the ones that get paid at these companies. We can't just expect others to fix problems for us and complain when they don't.

[@KawaiiKemono]

Do you mean 90s kid?

[@andrewkaylor2416]

@@KawaiiKemono doesn't rhyme as well, but means the same thing... that's how math works apparently

[@zagallo79]

Didn’t know there is a light side to tiktok

[@yengsabio5315]

Hear, hear!

[@futurehofer1564]

There is

[@user-shikayoru]

@@futurehofer1564 definitely no

[@rainboworiental9521]

Creators could upload positive content to tiktok， then tiktok will become a light platform.

[@user-shikayoru]

@@rainboworiental9521 I hope so

[@---GOD---]

Why is a 9 year old on tiktok? Why do the parents allow their 9 year old child to use tiktok? Why are they not monitoring and limiting the content their children look at online? When do we stop blaming an app on a phone and start taking responsibility for poor parenting? Why do we blame social media companies for proving a service and not the content creators pushing this nonsense?

[@thisismissem]

I'm not wanting to defend TikTok here, but their stated Minimum Age for use is 13 years old, as defined by the COPPA act which prevents companies from collecting data on children in theory. There is definitely some responsibility on the parents to ensure that the children aren't accessing content they shouldn't be seeing; though tiktok also definitely needs to take down harmful content. Children generally shouldn't be using social media without their parents' knowledge especially in such a prolific way

[@duckyworthIV]

Its part of the responsibility of the parents to monitor what they see on the internet. There's tools they can use that can accomplish this task. They need to learn how to manage their own home network. Parents cant be ignorant about this shit anymore. There's so much scarring shit a kid can have easy access to.

[@rishavdhariwal4782]

can you please tell what can be used to accomplish it?

[@ThenBetterUtopia]

Thiss exactly your job doesn’t end when your child enters home

[@DJcyberslash]

Crazy. I don't understand why parents are letting their children grt on the internet unmoderated like this. In my day we played Club penguin and Poptropica at the library home and school for X amount of time and that was it. Tiktok is not a controlled environment for children. It's basically a search engine. say no to tikthot.

[@42_10_]

"she is just a kid" ok Sir why did you give her a phone? Of course, kids are curious that's why they need parents. I'm curious to open the door of the moving car but my parents are there.

[@ValerioVota]

The moral is apparent: you should not have a smartphone at such a young age.

[@taylord1558]

Why would you give a phone to an elementary schooler?? Or if it’s needing to text them - a flip phone..

[@apocalypsepow]

When i was growing up my parents monitored my tv habits why can't these parents monitor there kids phone habits?

[@aymanpatel]

I remember this "blackout" challenge that came to my school 12 years ago. Seems like these challenges go viral regardless of the platform

[@yengsabio5315]

I don't know this. I don't have TikTok. I did not find TikTok useful & productivity-inducing.

[@bulelanibotman]

the fault lies with both parties, the parents for allowing their daughter to continue having a social media account even when they found out and the other is TikTok for the reasons specified on the video!

[@stefan-pz6iy]

Every app have its dark side

[@maddwhissp7092]

Exactly

[@kria9119]

TikTok should be held accountable but so should the parents themselves. Ignorance is no excuse, she was a very young child and had literally no need of a smartphone. Not educating yourself on the dangers of social media and therefore not monitoring your child is your fault too, but I think these parents will not admit to themselves they are responsible as well

[@jordanherman8827]

Finishes video: opens tiktok

[@alvapazz]

just don't give them a phone and if you do use parental control and if you can't then just don't give them the phone. that thing is dangerous.

[@fisomistrop]

I sincerely thank you for your work!

[@ivagreen11]

Black out challenge ⁉️😳 omg where this world is going 🧐 I'm so glad I'm over 30... I barely even use "social" media.

[@nah95]

Feel for the parents but the world always was and will remain a dark place. Handing a kid a phone just makes being exposed to everything a lot easier. If monitoring your own child's internet access is so difficult, what hope is there of controlling mega corporations and/or the world?

[@ltdao1980]

a investigation regarding lack of parental, this will shine a light on this matter!

[@shafi675]

TIKTOK is the darkside

[@yungembarrassment619]

The fact the child even had a screen and internet access is so appalling

[@_JL82]

Media programming I don't give a quaking duck about toc tic , never made one toc , I'm grateful for discernment

[@elenaolenaale]

It's good to know that there are people who deal with this problem. Recently, my son came to me and asked how to put himself to sleep by pressing his neck, I'm just in shock. Thank you for this video, maybe it will save the lives of many children.

[@musf1k]

just ban the app

[@korpyk]

Content creators should be made responsible for harming content, then the company. The creators make these videos for their profits, not Tik Tok.

[@SqueakyIri]

This begs the question: Where are the parents? I get everyone’s busy with work, household chores, and other children, but why are you letting your child scroll through TikTok unsupervised? Any form of social media has its hazards, and KZbin Kids, TikTok, and TV shows are no substitute for parental supervision. My heart aches for parents and families that are affected, and I believe we need to help parents foster a stronger bond with their children. That way, they do feel comfortable watching TikTok in in the living room or at the dining table, where parents can keep track of what they’re doing.

[@MRLONG758]

No parent can monitor what their child does 24/7. It's literally impossible

[@maxpowell23]

@@MRLONG758 absolutely not true, you are just thinking of bad and lazy parents

[@MRLONG758]

@Winston Smith you're trolling right?

[@maxpowell23]

@@MRLONG758 right... so I dont agree with you, so I must be trolling. That's the level of conversation we can expect from these interactions I guess.

[@maxpowell23]

@@MRLONG758 she was 9, not 13, not 15, but 9. 9 year olds are with their parents around the clock, they dont have friends to hang out with, they dont go to the mall or walk to school on their own, you can ALWAYS know what a 9 year old is doing and where, and if you dont, as a parent, you are lacking, its really not that hard.

[@rvs1378]

OK they said this was a video on the dark side of TikTok and they’re only talking about one challenge when there are many other challenges that are deadly and other fucked up things to be seen and talked about but I guess we’re not gonna talk about that

[@edwardnigma653]

At what point do parents look themselves in the mirror & accept responsibility for their children. So the answer to not parenting is to sue LEGO for making the pieces small enough that your child & a group of friends decided the best way to spend their time would be to try n swallow as many pieces as possible & see how many come out. (as an example) No corporation is perfect & none are looking for your own best interest BUT that's what parents are for. In my lifetime, parents went from monitoring how much TV children watched, because they wanted them to do homework, go outside etc.... TO.... giving them TV, phone, internet, full freedom to do n access w/e & then blame "the world" which was already shxt, that it corrupted their child.

[@taylord1558]

So why should these big companies be responsible? I mean they aren’t the ones posting the videos. Not trying to hate, just curious 🤔

[@samsonsoturian6013]

Quit pulling heartstrings, bozos. We know moderators can't remove this junk as fast as it can be made. Whether or not that makes the company liable is a lawyer question.

[@whistleblower7718]

Tiktok is used allover the world, but why only USA children doing this type of challenge and dying. Tiktok may be problem but blaming everything in tiktok is not right. Where are their parents social responsibility?

[@raquetdude]

They are dying in a lot of places this documentary by an American outlet is based on deaths in the USA

[@maxpowell23]

THIS RIGHT HERE 👆

[@americameinyourmouth9964]

The internet is censored too much already. Exploiting the death of a handful of kids to further suppress information is agitprop. I miss the wild west internet of the 90s and 00s.

[@jerseyboyce1]

i can only find two cases where legal action due to"blackout challenge" both were thrown out of court. i think this sis fearmongering

[@editorjohn8803]

The parents want to sue TikTok, but it seems to be an attempt to skirt responsibility as parents. The minimum a parent can do is to protect their own children, and even teach their children how to use social media to their advantage. We're not in a world of ostriches with their heads in the sand. We have to promote independence and critical thinking

[@fj103]

Ban it

[@twistedyogert]

Ban TikTok in the US. If the government can ban certain types of guns in the name of public safety when the second amendment is a thing then they certainly can ban a social media app despite the first amendment to protect the public.

[@americameinyourmouth9964]

The internet is censored too much already. Exploiting the death of a handful of kids to further suppress information is agitprop. I miss the wild west internet of the 90s and 00s.

[@villzfinest2603]

Tik tok is mind control programming 101. Why humans have attention span less than a goldfish now 🔥🔥

[@MichaelGalt]

100% Bytedance doesn't care if Western children or people suffer from using the app. 100% they would continue with this even if they were LOSING money. Any company wants lifelong customers. The fact that 5 year olds get tablets and phones now... any content directed to anyone under 18 which is free... is 100% designed to keep them captivated and loyal. If you are a parent, you 100% should not trust tech around your children. You need to carefully monitor and control its usage, just like you would with tools, weapons, fire. If you have already allowed your children basically unlimited or heavy access to tech... you better do a lot of research into what they are doing on that tech, the risks, and the trends.

[@elana137]

I've never had tik tok and will never get it.

[@dougaldouglas8842]

It has gone, society is gone, a top-heavy society we have, thrill seeking, theatre, nothing of any true substance, and that means an eventual collapse in mental state and society as a whole, souls unable to cope, exposed, at some stage to the real world. What self-murders increase to unbelievable heights

[@ideatorx]

Im sorry just ban tiktok, we'll survive.

[@urankjj]

When I was in high school, back in the early 70's, the black-out fad,(challenge) was definitely around. I believe it was more of a "hiper ventilation" thing to do after getting high. Thankfully there was no social media back then to glorify and popularize it. I don't know how such dangerous behavior can be condoned and even encouraged by social media platforms for the sake of likes and money, but it is and they don't care about any collateral damage that may occur related to their content.....Talk to your kids.

[@ludovician]

At least in the beginning she states she was not monitoring her child's social media usage.

[@camilkegels3640]

If it was up to me, i would straight up introduce a timelimit from 7 am to 23 pm and content moderation. I would also work with the model that's already in place in China.

[@isrealsaldana]

im glad i dont use tiktok and be dumb enough to do these challenges

[@LeviKerrison]

SAme as peer pressure in life. I remember doing the blackout stunts at the same age and TikTok didn’t exist. Bad parenting problem really

[@potatomatop9326]

I always knew The Sith are also tiktokers.

[@xilnes7166]

but tiktok doesn’t make any money...

[@patrickpaterson8785]

After watching a handful of "libs of tiktok" cringe compilations... it was really cemented in my mind to never install that trash on my phone. Not to mention that it is a blatantly obvious Chinese social engineering tool that harvests untold amounts of data.

[@koiyujo1543]

Exactly I mean people don't understand how dangerous the CCP is their a genicidal regime who don't give af about human rights

[@ihateyoubitch]

Just ban it im sick of it

[@cricketvideos3002]

that's why india ban ticktok,mostly there is no data localizing in their policy which gain by ccp party at any means .

[@rainboworiental9521]

a proofless accusation and prejudices toward chinese firms.

[@warrenkemmer1307]

We did the pass out challenge in the 90s long before tic toc

[@shiyihe7762]

funny to realize how bias it can be

[@AT-zr9tv]

Why does a 9 year old have a smartphone?

[@bear.hugsubzz]

11:33

[@ropro9817]

The dark side of Tiktok? How about the dumb side of Tiktok? Oh right, that's obvious, so no video required. 😆

[@criessmiles3620]

Parents need to take some accountability for having their young kids on TikTok without proper supervision The market has no merci From west Africa 🦅

[@raquetdude]

Could have been someone with learning disabilities… the point stays the same why is the “check out this you could easily die but try it kids :)” allowed on tiktok when tiktok says it’s against it. When the market is out of control then the government comes in.

[@medm7357]

tiktok and DJI should be BANNED

[@metaforically]

Is the type of content shown to kids (or generally) different in China than in America?

[@rainboworiental9521]

Yes, tiktok deliver stream flows according to users' favor. Chinese childs have different favor compare with US

[@koiyujo1543]

Honestly tik tok is own by a genicidal regime of the ccp which is why I stopped using it and deleted it and barely or never used it in the first place, it was desgined to be additive, it was designed to track you, it was designed to harm you, it was designed to make you post stuff, it was designed by a genicidal regime of the ccp! tik tok doesn't care about how if people file suit against it or not the company that only has control of it is byte dance and they work for the CCP in china so they don't give af about human rights! they will continue to keep going the only thing this will stop is to ban tik tok like India did! Seriously people wake tf UP! WAKE UP! it's own by a regime that doesn't care and won't stop anyway unless it's banned or simply ban your kids or anyone from using it! so no their isn't much of a bright side it's just an app own by a regime that wants to domanat the world

[@rainboworiental9521]

@@koiyujo1543 proofless and nonsense, tiktok is owned by a private business.

[@mjoancn4017]

是的，中国人使用的和海外的是两个版本。得益于中国庞大的人口，中国国内版本的Tik Tok也很丰富多彩。中国国内版叫“抖音（douyin）”，而海外叫“Tik Tok”

[@sdsdfgle]

Fun fact: we hate tiktok in China as well

[@ramza675]

Dont blame tiktok its the users that are uploading the trash

[@RikodiusRex]

Stop using it!

[@andrewarcadipane264]

Ban tiktok

[@MKNYC_]

Sorry but when do the parents take responsibility. Take the garbage off your kids phone and take some control.

[@AT-zr9tv]

My thoughts exactly. Why does a 9 year old have a smartphone with access to social media?!

[@medm7357]

BAN TIKTOK 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@Bhatakti_Hawas]

I'm from India. You don't get ur own phone until you are around 18 (when you enter college) If you get your own phone while you're still in school, its heavily supervised & has usage time limits

[@rainboworiental9521]

wow, that even stricter than many east asia tigher parents to manage smart phone screen time for their children

[@KhoiNguyens]

you don't even know the half of it, hah.

[@CalvinZhu]

only because it is a Chinese Company, so ... we can so this video

[@explosivedude8295]

Didleah?

[@foolsday2344]

ban tiktok

[@MauricioEscuderoRestrepo]

Ummm how about you care about your own kids and stop using tiktok/facebook/etc how about some personal responsibility...

[@Vedrajrm]

Tiktok is only a platform.

[@AT-zr9tv]

Thank you, Captain Obvious

[@mjoancn4017]

就像Twitter和KZbin一样，任何平台在没有监管的情况下都有阴暗面，这就是为什么中国限制大多数人使用外国平台。即使是来自中国的Tik Tok，中国内外是两个不同的版本

[@psp785]

Good luck trying to sue tiktok doesn't make sense it's user created content

[@serbanandrei7532]

What's the bright side tho

[@koiyujo1543]

Honestly tik tok is own by a genicidal regime of the ccp which is why I stopped using it and deleted it and barely or never used it in the first place, it was desgined to be additive, it was designed to track you, it was designed to harm you, it was designed to make you post stuff, it was designed by a genicidal regime of the ccp! tik tok doesn't care about how if people file suit against it or not the company that only has control of it is byte dance and they work for the CCP in china so they don't give af about human rights! they will continue to keep going the only thing this will stop is to ban tik tok like India did! Seriously people wake tf UP! WAKE UP! it's own by a regime that doesn't care and won't stop anyway unless it's banned or simply ban your kids or anyone from using it! so no their isn't much of a bright side it's just an app own by a regime that wants to domanat the world

[@alexanderphilip1809]

Spare the rod spoil the child.

[@JasonRMJ]

Well the parents are cleary spoiling their child by giving her a smartphone without any moderation. Now they are the ones suffering her death because of their neglect.

[@Davethreshold]

The PARENTS are to blame for this!! You can not give a Kid that age a computer or a smartphone and not have any idea what they are doing. My friend made sure his daughter only used her computer while he was 10 seconds away from her, near the hallway. IOW, she could not get away with anything that might harm her. You can NOT have children and not RAISE THEM. Don't have kids if you are going to let them grow like weeds in a garden.

Was there ever a good side on TikTok?

[@AT-zr9tv]

Of course there is. Dancing is social and fun, for instance.

[@nitesh95garg]

The sad part is that Tik Tok will come out of this unscathed.

[@KingBritish]

Trump had it right when he banned TikTok in the US. Bun TikTok and long live KZbin!.

[@ronduncan9527]

I’m sorry, but no one is forcing these kids to do this. I would hope as a parent these other parents are raising their kids to not do this stuff. I asked my 11 year old daughter that’s on tiktok daily if her or her friends know about the blackout challenge and she said we’d never do that crap.

[@user-op3ip5kf2m]

Why the us governor ban this rubbish app. Also, I believe that parent have responsibility to remove this app from child’s phone. You could check your children’s everyday, because governor always not work efficiently.

[@robbiematthews168]

The kids using the app now will regret it when they see a creepy Chinese man waving at you from outside your room without knowing why

[@crazyhandshands9028]

China

[@Lucky14970]

Choking yourself/holding your breath then being choked just means that "The Darwin Awards" will need to add an additional category at this years event!

[@user-tj7qj6qw3f]

Are these tweets harmful? Rejecting ideology affects personal entertainment style.

[@iamhisguhfrmtx2003]

I blame the parents for the kids being on the platform you could have taken that right away but I am however sorry for the loss of their children 😢😢

[@Metacognition88]

So if Biden and trump don’t like tik tok why is not banned yet or regulated?

[@catface3473]

Trump warned us about tik tok.