Judge Dismisses Suit Alleging TikTok 'Blackout Challenge' Caused Girl's Death
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A federal judge in Pennsylvania has dismissed a lawsuit against TikTok that alleged the social media platform was responsible for the "Blackout Challenge" death of 10-year-old Nylah Anderson.
On Wednesday, Judge Paul Diamond ruled that TikTok and its parent company ByteDance were protected from publishing third-party content by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, according to the ruling obtained by Bloomberg Law and other outlets.
"Defendants did not create the Challenge; rather, they made it readily available on their site," Diamond wrote in a memorandum. "Defendants' algorithm was a way to bring the Challenge to the attention of those likely to be most interested in it. In thus promoting the work of others, Defendants published that work — exactly the activity Section 230 shields from liability."
He concluded, "The wisdom of conferring such immunity is something properly taken up with Congress, not the courts."
Jeffrey Goodman, an attorney for the girl's mother, Tawainna Anderson, told Reuters that the family would "continue to fight to make social media safe so that no other child is killed by the reckless behavior of the social media industry."
TikTok did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment regarding the ruling.
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In the lawsuit the family filed in May, Tawainna Anderson said she found Nylah unconscious in her closet in their home on Dec. 7, 2021, after the girl allegedly used a purse strap to choke herself. The challenge dares participants to hold their breath until they pass out from a lack of oxygen.
Nylah was taken to a local hospital but died of her injuries five days later, according to the suit, which was submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
RELATED: Dad Warns Parents After Son, 12, Dies from 'Blackout Challenge': 'Check Out' Your Kids' Phones
The "Blackout Challenge" — sometimes referred to as the "Choking Challenge" or "Pass-Out Challenge" — predates most modern-day social networking sites and can be traced back to at least 2008, when 82 youths died as a result of the game, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
In 2021, at least three other children — Joshua Haileyesus, 12, and Robert Craig, 10, and LaTerius Smith Jr., 9 — reportedly died after attempting the game.
A search for "Blackout Challenge" on TikTok now redirects users to a page emphasizing the dangerous nature of some online challenges, according to NBC News.
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In May, a TikTok representative told PEOPLE that the company remains "vigilant" toward any unsafe content that users see.
"This disturbing 'challenge,' which people seem to learn about from sources other than TikTok, long predates our platform and has never been a TikTok trend," a spokesperson said. "We remain vigilant in our commitment to user safety and would immediately remove related content if found."
They continued, "Our deepest sympathies go out to the family for their tragic loss."
