A family in the US is suing TikTok after their 10-year-old girl choked to death while allegedly participating in one of the challenges that went viral on the social media platform. Nylah Anderson died after spending five days in an intensive care unit. Her family found her in her bedroom, unconscious, in December 2021 and rushed her to the hospital.

The girl had reportedly participated in the “blackout challenge” where individuals choke themselves until they pass out, and then regain consciousness while still on camera. Several other people, some of whom were also children, have reportedly died doing this challenge.

@drippydarion

#greenscreen These kids could’ve had a great life but now their gone forever RIP to all of them😂🥺benadryl #blackout #rip

♬ dont talk x who got you cryin like that – MASN

Nylah’s mother, Tawainna, has accused TikTok, along with ByteDance, its parent company, of negligence.

Ms Anderson says that the platform has a “defective design” that “thrust” the challenge in front of a young girl.

She wrote in her complaint, “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.”

“It is time that these dangerous challenges come to an end so that other families don’t experience the heartbreak that we live every day,” she added.

The family’s lawsuit also says that “social media superpowers like the TikTok defendants have seized the opportunity presented by the digital wild west to manipulate and control the behavior of vulnerable children to maximize attention dedicated to their social media platforms and thus maximize revenues and profits, all while shirking any safety responsibilities whatsoever.”

Responses to the lawsuit on The Straits Times Facebook page have been mixed, with some commenters warning against the dangers of social media.

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