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TikTok must face U.S. lawsuit over the platform's viral “blackout challenge” that several parents blame for their children’s deaths, an appeals court ruled (www.theverge.com)

submitted 2 months ago by tardigrada@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org

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TikTok has to face a lawsuit from the mother of 10-year-old Nylah Anderson, who “unintentionally hanged herself” after watching videos of the so-called blackout challenge on her algorithmically curated For You Page (FYP). The “challenge,” according to the suit, encouraged viewers to “choke themselves until passing out.”

TikTok’s algorithmic recommendations on the FYP constitute the platform’s own speech, according to the Third Circuit court of appeals. That means it’s something TikTok can be held accountable for in court. Tech platforms are typically protected by a legal shield known as Section 230, which prevents them from being sued over their users’ posts, and a lower court had initially dismissed the suit on those grounds.

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[–] DdCno1@beehaw.org 17 points 2 months ago (10 children)

Educating your kid about the many possible pitfalls of social media is even more important. They will eventually experience it, are likely already to some degree through their friends' devices exposed to it. Don't make the mistake of turning social media into some kind of forbidden fruit, but instead provide them with the tools to deal with it responsibly.

That said, I would still not allow this Chinese psy-ops tool on any device in my household. Other social media is already terrible enough, but TikTok seems to be engineered to cause nothing but damage.

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I know some amazing parents that have super open communication and excellent teaching moments with their kids, they still fell into the social media morass...because friends (and teenage brain) are a heavy influence even with a safe supportive home

[–] DdCno1@beehaw.org 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

That's a universal truth about parenting though and not limited to just social media.

[–] BCsven@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 months ago

Right, but i was commenting about educating your kids about the pitfalls of social media, like you said. My adult children are teachers and they see social media is destroying kids even with education about it...their brains can't stop even if they know the consequences, especially because it is psychologically tailored to engage them more and more

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