Explained: What Is Viral TikTok 'Blackout Challenge' And Why It's Blamed For Teenagers' Deaths

TikTok, a video-sharing social media platform is the target of numerous lawsuits from parents whose kids they claim strangled to death while participating in the "Blackout Challenge."

In several countries throughout the world, teenagers have died participating in the challenge, in which TikTok users asphyxiate themselves until they get unconscious.

A lawsuit against TikTok has been filed in the state of California on the grounds that the company "intentionally and frequently" pushed the challenge that led to the deaths of 2 young girls last year ¡ª an 8-year-old in Texas and a 9-year-old in Wisconsin. The matter was presented before the Los Angeles state court last week.

What is the 'Blackout Challenge'?

The blackout challenge is a popular internet trend that challenges participants to strangle themselves until they pass out, then upload the video to TikTok. The risky online challenge has existed for a long time and has also been referred to as "The Game of Choking," "Speed Dreaming," or "The Fainting Game."

Since the challenge became widely known in 2021, it is estimated that millions of videos of individuals attempting it have been posted on websites like YouTube. The trend, according to medical experts, can cause fainting, brain damage, seizures, and even death.

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To be clear, the challenge is not unique to TikTok and neither did it originate there. A similar "choking game," according to a 2018 TIME report, was formerly known as the "Pass Out Challenge," and there were millions of videos connected to it available on YouTube at the time.

Joshua Haileyesus, 12, was hospitalised in April 2021 after allegedly participating in the dangerous trend on TikTok, which caused the Blackout Challenge to go viral. In order to pay for Joshua's medical expenses, his family started a GoFundMe campaign. However, Joshua passed away after 19 days of life support.

Although many people first learned about TikTok's Blackout Challenge after that occurrence in April 2021, it is not the first time someone has died as a result of it. According to a Newsweek report, the Blackout Challenge also claimed the life of a 10-year-old child in Italy in January of that same year.

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The viral trend's originator is yet unidentified. According to The New York Times, which cited the website Know Your Meme, 3 youngsters died in Italy in January 2021 while participating in the "Blackout Challenge," which attracted a lot of media attention.

How many lawsuits against Tik Tok?

Colorado boy Joshua Haileyesus, 12, lost his life in April 2021 after attempting the challenge. As did a 12-year-old boy who was discovered "unresponsive" in an Oklahoma residence with "ligature marks" all over his neck.

It followed a tragic teen's death in June 2021 and a 10-year-old girl's failed attempt to complete the challenge in Italy in January 2021. Following the high-profile instance of Archie Battersbee, the social networking site was compelled to take action a year later.

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On April 7, 2022, the 12-year-old British boy had a "freak accident" in his Southend, Essex, home that put him in a coma. The families of two children who died in 2021 then filed a lawsuit against the platform on July 6.

The lawsuit, according to The Guardian, highlighted a variety of complaints against the platform, including that its algorithm encourages dangerous content, permits the use of the app by minors, and does not inform users or their legal guardians of the program's addictive nature.

What has TikTok said about the blackout challenge?

Although TikTok condemned the "challenge" after a deadly occurrence in 2021, they claimed to have found no trace of content on their platform.

Newsweek received the following statement from TikTok: "We do not allow anything that supports, promotes, or glorifies harmful behaviour that may result in injury, and our staff diligently try to detect and remove content that violates our policy.

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We will continue to actively monitor as part of our ongoing commitment to keep our community safe, even though we have not yet discovered any proof of anything on our platform that would have inspired such an incident off-platform.

Similar TikTok challenges

This is not the first time a well-known TikTok challenge has sparked concerns about the harmful habits it promotes. The Skull Breaker Challenge first appeared in 2020 and featured recordings of unaware people being tripped over, frequently by several people. Numerous accounts of catastrophic injuries rapidly emerged as a result of the unaware participant in the TikTok Skull Breaker Challenge and how the action appeared to be planned to ensure the deceived person landed on their back or head.

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Experts believe, there is nothing stopping another risky challenge from becoming popular among users, even if the Skull Breaker Challenge and Blackout Challenge are both removed from TikTok.

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