TikTok is facing a lawsuit by the parents of four British teenagers who allege that their children died after engaging in viral challenges on the video-sharing platform in 2022.
The legal action asserts that Isaac Kenevan, Archie Battersbee, Julian Jools Sweeney, and Maia Walsh passed away while partaking in the blackout challenge.
The Social Media Victims Law Center, based in the US, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance on behalf of the parents on Thursday.
TikTok has stated that searches related to the challenge are blocked and that it prohibits dangerous content or challenges while redirecting users to its Safety Centre.
The lawsuit was lodged in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware on behalf of Archie's mother Hollie Dance, Isaac's mother Lisa Kenevan, Jools' mother Ellen Roome, and Maia's father Liam Walsh.
It alleges that the deaths were a result of ByteDance's tactics to increase engagement at any cost.
The families' legal action follows uncertainty regarding TikTok's future in the US after President Donald Trump's executive order to ban the app unless sold to another company.
One of the parents, Lisa Kenevan, speaking about her son Isaac on BBC Breakfast in May, described him as a "happy, normal boy" who was curious and intelligent, leading him to take on the blackout challenge.
TikTok has faced multiple lawsuits and accusations from parents of deceased children, claiming that it exposed their kids to harmful content.
The Social Media Victims Law Center aided Tawainna Anderson in suing the platform in 2022 after her daughter Nyla's death, and a US appeals court reversed the dismissal of her case in August 2024.
Ellen Roome, who believes her son Jools died due to an online challenge, is seeking data from TikTok for clarity surrounding his death and aims to create something positive from the loss.