Who started the blackout challenge on TikTok?

The Blackout Challenge is a challenge on the video social media platform TikTok, in which people are encouraged to choke themselves until they become unconscious due to the lack of oxygen.

It is unknown who started the viral trend. However, according to a report in The New York Times, Know Your Meme, a website that details popular memes, the challenge received widespread media attention after three young children died in January 2021 while attempting the blackout challenge.

A lawsuit was filed on June 30 in a California court by the families of 8-year-old Lalani of Temple, Texas, and 9-year-old Arriani of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in collaboration with the Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC), which works to hold social media companies legally accountable for the harm they inflict on vulnerable users.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, alleges that the app’s algorithm promotes harmful content, allows underage users, and fails to warn users or their guardians of TikTok’s addictive nature.