The “blackout challenge” has been trending in recent years, following the deaths of children who participated.
Now bereaved British parents of four children, all aged 12-14, are suing TikTok, alleging the social media platform was linked to their children's deaths.
These families have filed a lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, in the US, seeking access to their children's social media account data to "get answers" about the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
However, a TikTok executive said on Tuesday the company may have removed the data. TikTok’s senior government relations manager, Giles Derrington, told BBC Radio 5 Live: "There are some things we simply don't have."
The wrongful death lawsuit, filed in early February, claims the four children — Isaac Kenevan, 13; Archie Battersbee, 12; Julian “Jools” Sweeney, 14; and Maia Walsh, 13 — died after attempting the blackout challenge. The lawsuit accuses TikTok of pushing dangerous prank and challenge videos to children to boost engagement, despite the platform’s policies against promoting harmful activities.
TikTok said it proactively removes 99 per cent of content that violates its rules before it is even reported.
Ellen Roome, the mother of 14-year-old Jools, told the PA news agency that she had been trying to obtain her son's data from TikTok because she "just wants answers” She said the data was "the only piece we haven't looked at”.
Ms Roome said TikTok did not inform her that a court order was necessary to release Jools's data, and she was "shocked" to learn that she "wasn’t entitled" to access it. She said how difficult it had been to "not understand why" her son died.
According to PA, Ms Roome is now campaigning for legislation that would allow parents to access their children's social media accounts if they die.
When asked why parents in these cases have been unable to access data, Mr Derrington explained, "This is really complicated because it relates to legal requirements regarding data removal. Under data protection laws, we are required to delete data quickly, and that impacts what we can do."
He added that the requirement to delete data could impact what remains available. “Everyone expects that when we are required by law to delete some data, it will have been deleted,” he said. “This is a more complicated situation than just withholding access to something.”
Mr Derrington also emphasised the importance of allowing the case to unfold as it should, ensuring that people get as many answers as possible. Speaking on Safer Internet Day, a global initiative to raise awareness about online harm, he noted that TikTok had been in discussions with some affected parents to assist them.
The challenge previously came under the spotlight in 2022. Lauryn Keating found her son Leon Brown, 14, unresponsive in his room at their home in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, on August 25, 2022. She later learned that the challenge had caused a brain injury that ultimately led to his death.
After months of legal battles, a judge ruled that doctors could lawfully end Leon’s life-support care, despite his family’s objections.
Ms Keating issued a warning on Facebook following her son’s death, stating that any child attempting the challenge risks unintentionally causing their death.
So what is the viral blackout challenge?
What is the viral blackout challenge?
The blackout challenge — also known as the “pass-out challenge” or “choking game” — encourages individuals to film themselves intentionally hyperventilating or restricting their air supply until they pass out, often for social media.
The challenge involves intentionally depriving the brain of oxygen, which is extremely dangerous. Although the blackouts in most viral videos may appear brief and harmless, there is a significant risk of lasting harm. Professionals warn that activities that restrict oxygen flow to the brain can cause brain-cell death, which may result in permanent neurological damage, mental disabilities, or even death.
In addition to the potential for brain injury, participants are at risk of other dangers such as falling, choking, or other accidents that can occur while unconscious. As mentioned, the blackout challenge has been linked to several tragic deaths, especially among children and teenagers who may not fully grasp the severity of the risks.
Even though the blackouts seem temporary in many videos, the long-term consequences are severe and can include brain damage, difficulty with learning, memory loss, and other cognitive impairments. These effects can be irreversible, meaning medical professionals and health experts strongly discourage participation in this dangerous activity.
What else has TikTok said about the blackout challenge?
Mr Derrington said the blackout challenge pre-dated TikTok and the firm has "never found any evidence that the blackout challenge has been trending on the platform".
"Indeed since 2020 (we) have completely banned even being able to search for the words 'blackout challenge' or variants of it, to try and make sure that no-one is coming across that kind of content," he said.
"We don't want anything like that on the platform and we know users don't want it either."
"This is a really, really tragic situation but we are trying to make sure that we are constantly doing everything we can to make sure that people are safe on TikTok."
In early 2021, when the trend was still gaining traction, TikTok said: “We do not allow content that encourages, promotes, or glorifies dangerous behaviour that might lead to injury, and our teams work diligently to identify and remove content that violates our policies.”
When did the blackout challenge begin?
The blackout challenge first gained notable attention in the 1990s, though it may have existed in various forms in different regions long before it was documented.
There isn't a direct, widely cited origin story from the 1990s, but there are several pieces of evidence that point to the emergence and spread of the game in that era:
- Reports from the 1990s: US media outlets and safety organisations reported cases of children attempting the choking game throughout the 1990s. One key report from National Public Radio (NPR) in the late 1990s described this behaviour as dangerous among children and adolescents. It wasn’t until the 2000s that social media helped elevate the activity’s visibility.
- Medical and law enforcement reports: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) started documenting incidents of children dying or suffering brain injuries from this activity in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The CDC began recording cases of children who had either died or been seriously injured as a result of trying to induce unconsciousness by hyperventilating or choking themselves, and many of these incidents were traced back to the 1990s.
- Early documentation in online forums: By the late 1990s, even though social media wasn’t as pervasive, the rise of the internet and online chat forums allowed children and teens to share experiences. These forums, though not as widespread as today’s platforms, often contained reports of kids talking about the game and discussing how they tried to pass out or induce unconsciousness.
