Summary
The parents of four British teenagers are suing TikTok, alleging that its algorithm promoted the deadly “blackout challenge,” leading to their children’s deaths in 2022.
The lawsuit, filed by the Social Media Victims Law Center, claims TikTok deliberately pushed dangerous content to maximize engagement.
The case follows similar lawsuits and renewed scrutiny of social media’s role in child safety.
New UK laws now require platforms to prevent children from accessing harmful challenge videos.
For us in the late 80s, it was called knocking off as a play on nodding off. The local news was all over it. In fact, that’s how my friends learned about it. I never did it but I had a few friends that would choke each other out to get high all the time.