After participating in the “choking challenge”, a 12-year-old girl from Argentina died. It was first promoted on TikTok, a Chinese-owned app.
El Litoral reports that the girl’s death was recorded in a video conference with her classmates as she attempted the “blackout challenge”, also known as the Choking Challenge, prompted by TikTok.
Milagros Soto (12 years old) was encouraged by her classmates to take part in the fatal TikTok Challenge. This involved recording herself and holding her breath with an object attached to her neck until she fainted.
Soto, an Argentinean who lived in Capitan Bermudez was found hanged in her bedroom on Friday. Her family is asking for “raise awareness” regarding the dangers associated with viral TikTok Challenges, so it doesn’t happen again.
Laura Luque, the aunt of the girl, posted a Facebook message on Friday saying that her little niece “lost her life today while doing a tik-tok challenge — my family is inconsolable.”
El Litoral reported that Soto died from “mechanical asphyxiation through hanging” after an autopsy.
TikTok is not the only TikTok challenge that has resulted in Soto’s death. The same “blackout challenge” that led to the deaths of Leon Brown, 14, and Archie Battersbee (12) in the UK last summer allegedly caused death.
These are just a few examples of TikTok’s danger to teens and children. Children are encouraged to take part in dangerous and potentially life-threatening trends by the Chinese app.
Another example: The FDA alerted parents last September about a new TikTok threat that involved children cooking chicken in NyQuil “presumably to eat.”
TikTok also challenged users in 2020 to use large amounts of the allergy medication Benadryl, or diphenhydramine, to cause hallucinations. Teens were reported to have been rushed to the hospital and even died as a result.
The Chinese app rewards young users with virality or “TikTok fame” for being foolish. This is done by posting puerile videos of dance moves, but it’s also for popularizing dangerous trends and posting explicit content.
TikTok’s algorithm also makes it easier to make viral videos and gain internet fame for teens by making them post certain videos. This is all evidence that the app, which is owned by China, should be banned in America and other countries.
