U.S. appeals court revives a lawsuit against TikTok over 10-year-old’s ’blackout challenge’ death

U.S. appeals court revives lawsuit against TikTok over child's death from viral challenge, challenging Section 230 protection.

A U.S. appeals court revived on Tuesday (August 26, 2024) a lawsuit filed by the mother of a 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl who died attempting a viral challenge she allegedly saw on TikTok that dared people to choke themselves until they lost consciousness.

While federal law generally protects online publishers from liability for content posted by others, the court said TikTok could potentially be found liable for promoting the content or using an algorithm to steer it to children.

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“TikTok makes choices about the content recommended and promoted to specific users, and by doing so, is engaged in its own first-party speech,” Judge Patty Shwartz of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court in Philadelphia wrote in the opinion issued Tuesday (August 26).

Lawyers for TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment.

Lawyers for the mother, Tawainna Anderson, had argued that the so-called “blackout challenge,” which was popular in 2021, appeared on Nylah Anderson’s “For You" feed after TikTok determined that she might watch it — even after other children had died trying it.

Nylah Anderson's mother found her unresponsive in the closet of their home in Chester, near Philadelphia, and tried to resuscitate her. The girl, described by her family as a fun-loving “butterfly," died five days later.