Lalani Erika Walton and Arriani Jaileen Arroyo died while attempting the viral TikTok challenge known as the “blackout challenge.”
Participants in the challenge share videos depicting self-strangulation until they lose consciousness. Walton and Arriani, ages eight and nine, respectively, died after participating in the challenge.
The Social Media Victims Law Center filed a civil lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance Ltd., in a Los Angeles County court on behalf of the girls’ families.
The parents claim that their children became addicted to TikTok and that the platform promoted content that influenced the kids to harm themselves.
Paul Asay, senior associate editor of Focus on the Family’s PluggedIn.com, told The Christian Post that these applications are intended to strengthen friendships but are also a “business.” He said the purpose of the business is to “keep their users as involved and engaged as much as they possibly can.”
He said that’s a problem for kids and teens using social media applications. He argued that children typically don’t have the ability to make “wise, healthy decisions for themselves.”
According to the complaint, TikTok determined that videos showing the blackout challenge were appropriate for young users and fed their children a stream of challenge videos persuading them to participate.