12-year-old girl dies after attempting ‘choking’ TikTok challenge
Cami Mondeaux
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A 12-year-old girl from Argentina died last week after attempting a “choking challenge” she had reportedly seen on the social media app TikTok, according to local outlets.
Milagros Soto was found dead in her home on Friday after allegedly attempting the “choking challenge,” which prompts users to asphyxiate themselves until they pass out. Soto was found hanging from a makeshift noose inside her bedroom, according to El Litoral.
FAMILIES SUE TIKTOK AFTER YOUNG GIRLS HANG THEMSELVES FOR CHALLENGE
Soto reportedly attempted the challenge while on a video call with her classmates, according to the outlet. She had completed the challenge twice successfully but failed on the third attempt, according to the New York Post.
As a result, Soto’s family members have posted on social media urging other parents to be on the lookout for similar attempts.
“She is a miracle, my little niece … who lost her life today doing a TikTok challenge,” Soto’s aunt Laura Luque said in a Facebook post. “Please share … my family and I have no consolation.”
A handful of other children have died from the similar “blackout” challenges that are popularized on the TikTok app, including a 9-year-old girl from Wisconsin and an 8-year-old girl from Texas who died on separate occasions in 2021. The two families later filed individual lawsuits against the social media platform in 2022, accusing the app of being “an addictive product that is not safe for users.”
A woman in Pennsylvania filed a similar lawsuit in May 2022 after her 10-year-old daughter was found unconscious, hanging from a purse strap in late 2021. Her daughter later died days later.
A federal judge later dismissed the lawsuit in October, ruling the app was protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act that rules social media platforms cannot be held liable for content posted by third-party users.
The “choking challenge” has existed in one form or another for several decades. At least 82 children between the ages of 6 and 19 have died playing a version of the challenge between 1995 and 2007, the year with the most recent data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Experts have warned against such challenges, encouraging users to report social media posts that could be dangerous for users to replicate. Content featuring similar challenges is prohibited on the TikTok platform, according to the app’s Community Guidelines. As a result, if a user searches for the “blackout challenge” on the TikTok app, they will automatically be redirected to the platform’s Safety Center.
“Our deepest sympathies go out to the family for their tragic loss,” a spokesperson for TikTok told the Washington Examiner. “The safety of our community is our priority, and we take any claim about a dangerous challenge very seriously. Content of this nature is prohibited on our platform and would be removed if found.”