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TikTok must face U.S. lawsuit over the platform's viral “blackout challenge” that several parents blame for their children’s deaths, an appeals court ruled

TikTok has to face a lawsuit from the mother of 10-year-old Nylah Anderson, who “unintentionally hanged herself” after watching videos of the so-called blackout challenge on her algorithmically curated For You Page (FYP). The “challenge,” according to the suit, encouraged viewers to “choke themselves until passing out.”

TikTok’s algorithmic recommendations on the FYP constitute the platform’s own speech, according to the Third Circuit court of appeals. That means it’s something TikTok can be held accountable for in court. Tech platforms are typically protected by a legal shield known as Section 230, which prevents them from being sued over their users’ posts, and a lower court had initially dismissed the suit on those grounds.

some_guy ,

I’m gonna take the side that tok is potentially liable on the algo argument but these parents also failed their children. Teaching your kids to avoid replicating unsafe internet content should be just as primary as looking both ways before crossing the road.

tilefan ,

tiktok was somehow the only platform carrying the trend?

stardust , (edited )

I remember reading that China’s version of tiktok more promotes stuff like sciences to kids. Then for everyone else they get degeneracy of stuff like stealing KIAs, licking grocery store items, and now black out challenges.

It would be interesting if how the algorithm is tuned for China and the rest of the world was available. Makes me wonder if it’s intentional to try to make society a worse place with inventive uses of pushing certain trends on international versions of tiktok instead of filtering them out.

Stuff like Facebook and Twitter are insane too so it’s all self sabatoge at this point, but tiktok has seemed to become the trend setter.

viking ,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

Yeah Douyin is pushing educational content and is very fast to censor harmful stuff. Still full of garbage and racism though, just the sanctioned kind against people the government doesn’t like.

thingsiplay ,

Tik Tok should be 18+.

theangriestbird ,

ah shit me and my friends used to do this, pre-social media. I remember one time in middle school recess, going out to the farthest corner of the playground with my friends, and we all did a thing where we took turns holding our breath while someone else squeezed our chest. I remember blacking out, hearing the pokemon theme in pitch darkness, and then waking up on the ground.

I don’t think we did it more than once (at least I didn’t). But of course, the crucial difference was that I was with my dumbass friends, so at least there was someone to run for help if someone didn’t wake up.

DeltaTangoLima ,
@DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com avatar

Shit like this is why I intend to keep my (currently) 9yo as far away from social media as I can, for as long as I can. This fucking terrifies me, as it should any parent.

DdCno1 ,

Educating your kid about the many possible pitfalls of social media is even more important. They will eventually experience it, are likely already to some degree through their friends’ devices exposed to it. Don’t make the mistake of turning social media into some kind of forbidden fruit, but instead provide them with the tools to deal with it responsibly.

That said, I would still not allow this Chinese psy-ops tool on any device in my household. Other social media is already terrible enough, but TikTok seems to be engineered to cause nothing but damage.

BCsven ,

I know some amazing parents that have super open communication and excellent teaching moments with their kids, they still fell into the social media morass…because friends (and teenage brain) are a heavy influence even with a safe supportive home

DeltaTangoLima ,
@DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com avatar

My own belief is that all social media is a cancer, and to be avoided entirely. I’m able to do that for myself, but I’m also realistic about the chances of keeping my kids away from it. So, I focus my energy on trying to equip them with the mental skills to neutralise the toxic aspects of social media.

For my 9yo, that means teaching her to employ natural skepticism and critical thinking. I’m also trying to drum into her the understanding that social media is inherently untrustworthy and unreliable, and exists solely for the benefit of the corporations that run it.

That said, I’ve blocked Tik Tok on my home network, much to the older kids’ chagrin. They have to use mobile data if they want to access that shit on their phones.

t3rmit3 ,

I am generally very skeptical of lawsuits making social media and other Internet companies liable for their users’ content, because that’s usually a route to censor whatever the government deems “harmful”, but I think this case actually makes perfect sense by attacking the algorithmic “curation” that they do. Imo social media should go back to being a purely chronological feed, curated by the users themselves, and cut corporate influence out of the equation.

chahk ,

social media should go back to being a purely chronological feed, curated by the users themselves, and cut corporate influence out of the equation.

But then how would they make money if they can’t keep users doomscrolling forever to keep serving them ads? Won’t someone think of the shareholders?!

Kolanaki ,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

As if that would at all stop these dumbass challenges from being posted and copied? People have been hurting themselves copying something they saw someone else doing even before the invention of the camera.

t3rmit3 ,

Yes, but that is not the entirety or even majority of the problem with algorithmic feed curation by corporations. Reducing visibility of those dumb challenges is one of many benefits.

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