In a significant legal confrontation, the parents of four British teenagers have filed a lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, following the tragic deaths of their children, allegedly linked to the "blackout challenge" on the platform. The lawsuit, lodged in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware, accuses TikTok of designing algorithms that fostered a "harmful dependency," inundating the teenagers with dangerous content. This legal action adds to mounting scrutiny over TikTok's safety measures, as similar cases have emerged globally, raising questions about the platform's role in harmful challenges.
The teenagers involved in this heartbreaking case are Isaac Kenevan, Archie Battersbee, Julian "Jools" Sweeney, and Maia Walsh. The lawsuit claims that TikTok's algorithms were "aimed at pushing children into maximizing their engagement with TikTok by any means necessary," resulting in a "seemingly endless stream of harms." These were not risks the victims actively sought out, but rather content that was aggressively pushed onto them.
The complaint argues that the deaths were the "foreseeable result of ByteDance's engineered addiction-by-design and programming decisions." The families assert that TikTok prioritized profit over safeguarding young users, echoing concerns raised by Leanda Barrington-Leach, executive director of the 5Rights Foundation, who described the incidents as "the horrific consequences of tech companies putting profit above children's lives."
TikTok maintains it prohibits dangerous content and challenges on its platform, directing users to its Safety Centre for guidance. In 2021, TikTok pledged to strengthen its detection and enforcement of rules regarding hazardous online challenges. Despite these assurances, Ellen Roome, mother of Jools, is pursuing further clarity around her son's death by seeking data from TikTok.
This lawsuit is not an isolated incident. The Social Media Victims Law Center had previously assisted Tawainna Anderson in suing TikTok after her 10-year-old daughter, Nyla, died allegedly participating in the same challenge. Meanwhile, a coroner concluded that Archie Battersbee's demise resulted from a "prank or experiment" gone wrong at home, with no conclusive evidence linking it to an online challenge at the time.
Adding to TikTok's challenges, a US appeals court overturned a lower court's dismissal of a separate case in August 2024. As legal pressures mount, former President Donald Trump's executive order extending the deadline for TikTok to be sold to another firm remains a backdrop to these proceedings.
The families' legal battle underscores broader concerns about social media's impact on young users. Lisa Kenevan, mother of Isaac, described her son as "highly inquisitive, highly intelligent," emphasizing the profound loss experienced by each family. Ellen Roome expressed her determination to create positive change out of Jools' loss for both current and future families affected by similar tragedies.