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A 10-year-old TikTok user passed away after taking part in The Blackout Challenge. Nyla Anderson was in her room when she decided to hold her breath long enough to pass out. Her family rushed her to the hospital, where she was declared dead.
The Blackout Challenge is a dangerous social media challenge with roots from the 90s. The challenge requires a person to hold their breath until they pass out. TikTok flags the content as 'self-harm' and asks its user base to report such videos.
Tragic death of Nyla Anderson
Nyla Anderson was a 10-year-old girl from Pennsylvania. On December 12, the family of the child found her body in her bedroom. After rushing her to the hospital ER, the child was declared dead.
Anderson's death is supposed to be blamed on a popular trend on TikTok called The Blackout Challenge. As mentioned earlier, the challenge requires the participant to hold their breath until they pass out.
In an interview with 6abc, Anderson's mother pleaded to the parents worldwide to check up on the media their kids consume. She continued that her daughter was smart and spoke three languages, but she was a kid, and kids are impressionable.
She told the news channel:
“You wouldn’t think 10-year-olds would try this. They’re trying because they’re kids, and they don’t know better.”
Anderson was the fifth reported for the TikTok challenge this year, which has claimed victims in Tennessee, Oklahoma, Colorado, and even Italy. All five victims were below 15 years of age.
A spokesperson for TikTok said they were actively taking steps to remove and limit dangerous content from the platform. A search for #blackoutchallenge shows no result and comes with a message saying, "Learn how to recognize harmful challenges and hoaxes."
The platform urges its users to report dangerous content. While they sympathize with the victims' families, they also deny the origin of the challenge, which originated in the 90s. They said:
"This 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 Blackout Challenge on TikTok
Originating in 1990s, an earlier version of the challenge was called 'the choke challenge' or 'the fainting game.' The concept of these challenges is to hold your breath to the brink of passing out.
With social media shortening the boundaries of media, the challenge has sprung up recently with the label 'The Blackout Challenge.' The challenge claimed more than 80 lives between 1995 and 2007.
