The mourning families of two young girls who died performing a social media challenge have filed wrongful death lawsuits against TikTok.
On Feb. 26, 2021, Arriani Arroyo, a 9-year-old Wisconsin girl, was found by her 5-year-old brother hanging unresponsive by a dog leash affixed to her room’s door, according to a report.
“She had been in this condition for at least a half-hour in front of her 5-year-old brother,” the Social Media Victims Law Center said.
JOE ROGAN JOKES ABOUT ‘SHOOTING HOMELESS PEOPLE,’ PAYS THE PRICE ON TWITTER
Her family rushed her to a local hospital, where the child was put on life support, the report noted.
“Testing revealed that Arriani had permanent, irreversible brain damage and complete loss of brain function, and her family made the difficult decision to withdraw life support,” the SMVLC said.
Months later, Lalani Walton, an 8-year-old girl in Texas, was found in her room unresponsive with a rope around her neck after a family road trip, according to the report.
Her stepmother “walked in and found Lalani hanging from her bed with a rope around her neck still warm to the touch,” the SMVLC said.
Her stepmother cut the young girl free, but emergency officials declared that the girl had died of self-asphyxiation when they arrived on the scene, the report noted.
The girls had been victims of TikTok’s “blackout challenge,” which sees users choking themselves until they pass out, according to the SMVLC.
A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the grieving families, alleging TikTok has designed “an addictive product that is not safe for users.”
“TikTok needs to be held accountable for pushing deadly content to these two young girls,” Matthew Bergman, founding attorney of the SMVLC, said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“TikTok has invested billions of dollars to intentionally design products that push dangerous content that it knows are dangerous and can result in the deaths of its users.”
