Photo: Obituary; gofundme
Two girls died last year while trying the viral “Blackout Challenge” onTikTok; now their parents are suing the social media platform.
On Feb. 26, 2021, Arriani Jaileen Arroyo died of suffocation after trying the controversial challenge, where social media users strangle themselves until they’re unconscious, her family says. She was 9 years old.
Her father, Heriberto Arroyo Roman, and mother, Christal Arroyo Roman, have since sued TikTok, alleging that “at all times relevant, TikTok’s algorithm was designed to promote ‘TikTok Challenges’ to young users to increase their engagement and maximize TikTok’s profits,” according toGood Morning America.
TikTok has previously said that the challenge “long predates our platform and has never been a TikTok trend.”
“This is not easy, to wake up every day and know that your little girl is never coming back,” Arroyo’s mother told GMA Thursday. “We just never thought that there was a darker side to what TikTok allows on its platform.”
Arriani Arroyo.gofundme
She described Arriani as smart, fashionable and generous; and recalled how doing nails and dancing were some of her late daughter’s favorite activities.
Arriani’s family started aGoFundMelast year to raise money for her funeral expenses, bringing in more than $5,000 of their $10,000 goal.
“This beautiful soul was wise and intelligent beyond her years. Her future was exceptionally bright. We can’t count how many hearts she filled with her joy, energy, and magnetic personality,” her family wrote, adding that she was “obsessed” with her 5-year-old brother and “loved all of her siblings.”
After her death, her father found Arriani’s journal where the child wrote “about how happy she was.”
Lalani Erika Walton.Obituary
The parents of Lalani Walton, 8, and the Social Media Victims Law Center also joined the lawsuit. Lalani died from strangulation and suffocation when attempting the challenge last July.
“She will always be remembered as a talented singer, having an outgoing personality, and had the biggest pretty eyes,” Lalani’s family shared in herobituary, adding that her dream was to be a rapper. “She enjoyed spending time with her family. dressing up as a princess, and doing her makeup. She collected LOL dolls and her favorite color was pink.”
Arriani’s father Heriberto told GMA he hopes their legal action helps stop other families from facing the same tragedy.
“We just want people to be aware, because we don’t want no other children out there to be a statistic of this situation again,” he said. “We want to make sure that we can save other kids.”
The following July, due to Tiktok’s algorithm, Lalani began seeing the “Blackout Challenge” on the platform, her family said in the lawsuit according to theTimes.She viewed videos of the challenge during a 20-hour car ride with her family. Shortly after returning home, Lalani’s stepmother found her “hanging from her bed with a rope around her neck.”
RELATED VIDEO: Family Forced to Get Loans to Drive Daughter to Cancer Treatments Is ‘In Shock’ Over Outpouring of Support
Police checked her phone and discovered that Lalani had viewed videos of the challenge “on repeat” and was “under the belief that if she posted a video of herself doing the ‘Blackout Challenge,’ then she would become famous,” per the filing.
In a statement toThe Washington Postin May, a spokesperson for the platform said the deadly challenge was never a TikTok trend.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“[The] disturbing ‘challenge,’ which people seem to learn about from sources other than TikTok, long predates our platform and has never been a TikTok trend,” the spokesperson said at the time, adding, “We remain vigilant in our commitment to user safety and would immediately remove related content if found.”
They added that TikTok has blocked the #BlackoutChallenge hashtag from being searchable.
source: people.com
