The viral “blackout” challenge circulating on TikTok is still claiming the lives of children too young to be on the app, according to Bloomberg Businessweek, which found that 15 children age 12 or younger have been killed in the past 18 months, along with at least five kids aged 13 and 14. The challenge, also tagged as the “pass out challenge,” encourages kids to hold their breath until they fall unconscious, sometimes with the help of various objects like purse straps or shoelaces. It claimed at least 80 lives back in 2008 when it first appeared, but reemerged with shocking popularity in 2021 on the video app. Lawsuits attempting to place blame on TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance have failed, with courts deeming the company has immunity under the Communications Decency Act, which shields publishers of other people’s work.
