Mom Whose 10-Year-Old Daughter Died In TikTok Blackout Challenge, Sues App

A 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl died while trying out a dangerous stunt called the Blackout Challenge last year, and now her mother is suing TikTok.

Last December, Tawainna Anderson's daughter Nylah was rushed to the hospital after trying out the TikTok challenge, reported ABC6. It encourages users to choke themselves until passing out. The girl was in the intensive care unit for many days before she died, and now Anderson and her attorneys have announced a wrongful death lawsuit against the company in Center City Philadelphia.

Anderson says in her lawsuit that her daughter heard about the challenge from TikTok's "for you page (FYP)" which serves users videos on the basis of an algorithm, reported CBS News. The suit reads that TikTok's "algorithm determined that the deadly Blackout Challenge was well-tailored and likely to be of interest to 10-year-old Nylah Anderson, and she died as a result." The suit further reads that before she died, the girl was "an active, happy, healthy, and incredibly intelligent child," and she spoke three languages.

Several reports that found social media could negatively affect kids, especially their mental health, are named in the suit. The lawsuit reads that one of the "deadliest TikTok Challenges to make its rounds on the TikTok Defendants' app and be promoted to users by their FYP algorithm" is their Blackout Challenge. TikTok allegedly knew of several other children who died from the challenge, the suit says. The suit further states that Anderson's daughter tried the challenge and died as a result of TikTok's "corrosive marketing practices."

She is suing the company for an undisclosed amount in damages. She said that she wants to hold the company accountable, and that it is time that these "dangerous challenges come to an end."

New York Daily News reported that TikTok argued that its team steadfastly searches out dangerous content on its site. They also said that the Blackout Challenge long predates the existence of TikTok, which was founded in Beijing in 2016. The Blackout Challenge has been traced to 2008. At the time, the competition, which is also known as The Choking Game, was blamed for the deaths of 82 kids in 31 states in the US.