WARNING. Disturbing content.
TikTok isn’t liable for the death of a 10-year-old girl who watched a so-called Blackout Challenge video that encouraged people to choke themselves, a judge ruled.
The Blackout Challenge encourages viewers to videotape themselves choking to the point of passing out. Versions of the challenge have been posted on various platforms and have been blamed for the deaths of multiple children. Other wrongful death lawsuits against TikTok over the challenge are pending in federal courts in Oakland and Los Angeles.
Anderson was found hanging from a purse strap in a closet of her home in Pennsylvania in December 2021, according to court records. Her mother sued TikTok, claiming it had recommended the video to the girl on her “For You Page.”
In an eight-page ruling Tuesday, Diamond said even if the app had recommended the video to the girl, TikTok couldn’t be sued. Promoting a video to a user is “exactly the activity” that is shielded from liability under Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, he wrote. “The wisdom of conferring such immunity is something properly taken up with Congress, not the courts,” he added.
Congress added Section 230 to the 1996 law in an effort to shield online content providers from being buried under mountains of litigation based on the the content posted by users on their platforms.
