Mother sues TikTok after daughter allegedly dies during viral “blackout” challenge

The mother of a deceased child is suing social media corporation TikTok over claims that the company encouraged her daughter to take part in a dangerous “blackout challenge” currently popular on the site.

Tawainna Anderson, the mother of deceased 10-year-old Nylah Anderson, said in her lawsuit that her daughter was “excruciatingly asphyxiated” in December when she “attempted to perform a viral TikTok challenge known as the ‘Blackout Challenge’ which encourages children to choke themselves until passing out.”

Nylah “suffered in the pediatric intensive care unit for several days until she tragically succumbed to her injuries and died,” the suit claims. 

Anderson in the lawsuit claims 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.”

“TikTok is programming children for the sake of corporate profits and promoting addiction,” Anderson states in the suit. 

The plaintiff is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages against the company, the latter “in an amount sufficient to punish [TikTok] and encourage it and others from similar conduct.”