Four UK families have filed a lawsuit against the social media platform TikTok in the US, claiming that their children died as a result of wrongful death, reports RTE.
The parents think their kids perished because they completed a “blackout challenge” that they saw on the app.
The complaint alleges that Julian “Jools” Sweeney, 14, Maia Walsh, 13, and Archie Battersbee, 12, perished while undertaking the challenge, reports RTE.
In 2022, all four children passed away. Within forty-five days of one another, three of them passed away.
But TikTok has said that since 2020, these kinds of challenges have been prohibited on its site.
According to a spokeswoman, the application does not “serve search results or hashtags related to this challenge, which means when someone searches #BlackOutChallenge or similar they will be shown a message that directs them to our Safety Centre”, reports RTE.
The app “does not allow content that shows or promotes dangerous behaviour,” the representative continued.
Liam Walsh, the father of Maia, Ellen Roome, the mother of Jools, Lisa Kenevan, the mother of Isaac, and Hollie Dance, the mother of Archie, are the parents mentioned in the complaint and are asking for their children’s TikTok data. The parents feel that learning the truth is crucial.
“The law requires companies like ours to delete people’s personal data unless it is needed for running a business,” a TikTok spokeswoman countered, reports RTE.
In addition, they stated that “a company receives a valid request from law enforcement” may result in an exemption.
Additionally, TikTok stated that protecting the platform this year will cost more than $2 billion.
It was “no coincidence” that three of the fatalities happened within forty-five days of one another, according to Ms. Kenevan, who was speaking from her Essex home, reports RTE.
Ms. Dance, a nearby resident, thinks the kids were exposed to the material on “the algorithm”
They have seen it in the algorithm. We also live too near to one another,” she remarked, reports RTE.
“It’s too much of a coincidence, all in 2022 as well,” Lisa concurred, reports RTE.
When Ms. Dance thinks of Archie, she chuckles and remarks, “He was definitely a charmer.”
Her son was a gifted gymnast and a “sports fanatic”.
They had just gotten home from a restaurant on April 7, 2022, and had planned to see a movie, reports RTE.
When the unthinkable occurred, Ms. Dance was in her room answering a phone call.
“The phone call was four minutes, 23 seconds long, and five steps away from me when I walked out of my room Archie was unresponsive,” she says, reports RTE.
Archie died four months after being kept on life support.
Ms. Dance breaks down in tears when asked how she wants her kid to be remembered, reports RTE.
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