What Is 'Blackout Challenge'? Mother Sues TikTok After 10-Year-Old Dies

TikTok, the popular video platform owned by Chinese internet giant Bytedance, is facing legal action over an allegedly defective feature that allowed a 10-year-old girl to be exposed to explicit material.

According to PEOPLE, 10-year-old Nylah Anderson was exposed to dangerous content on TikTok, which was never a TikTok trend before. Her mother, Taiwanna Anderson said that TikTok's "Blackout Challenge" made Nylah unconscious in her home on December 7. The "challenge" allegedly dares participants to hold their breath until they pass out owing to lack of oxygen.

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TikTok Blackout Challenge

Although Nylah was taken to a local hospital, she succumbed to her injuries five days later, according to the suit submitted to the US District Court on Thursday. Claiming that Nylah came across the challenge as she was using TikTok, the suit mentioned that she could be exposed to the challenge on TikTok's "For You Page" or FYP, the first page one lands on when they open TikTok. It is a curated feed of videos from creators individuals can follow based on their past interests and interactions.

According to Anderson, her daughter was an active, happy, healthy and intelligent child and she will be suing TikTok for multiple damages the platform does to children including death and negligence.

"The Blackout Challenge," sometimes referred to as the "Choking Challenge" or "Pass-Out Challenge," is found in most modern-day social networking sites. It can be traced as back as 2008 when 82 youths had died as a result of this game, as per Centers For Disease Control or the CDC.  In 2021, at least three children reported died after playing this game.

According to Anderson's suit, the app's algorithm resulted in dangerous and harmful videos being shown to its users, children, encouraging them to indulge in risky activities which could cause them harm and death. Earlier, TikTok had revealed that more than one million people across the world use its app in every month.

In 2021, 12-year-old Colorado-based Joshua Haileyesus' family mourned his death because of this challenge. He had spent 19 days on life support posted by his family on a GoFundMe page before dying. The page said that Joshua was found "breathless on the bathroom floor by his twin brother who tried to resuscitate him until neighbors and the ambulance arrived."