A Pennsylvania family is suing TikTok after their 10-year-old daughter died while attempting a social media challenge they claim that the young girl saw on the video-sharing platform.
On Thursday, the Delaware County family of 10-year-old Nylah Anderson, who died in December last year, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the social media giant in Philadelphia.
An attorney, Jeffrey Goodman, representing the Anderson family, called TikTok a “dangerously popular app” and warned that what happened to Nylah could happen to anybody’s child.
“The nature of the lawsuit is that TikTok, through their algorithms, decided that it was a good decision to send a how-to video to a 10-year-old on how to asphyxiate oneself,” Goodman said.
Goodman further explained that TikTok is unique from other video-sharing platforms and websites like YouTube. TikTok’s “whole business model,” according to Goodman, centers around its ‘For You’ page, a section of the app that procures content based on a user’s viewing habits.
“With TikTok you see the videos that it puts in front of you and the purpose of the algorithm is to try and get users hooked,” Goodman said. “The purpose is to try to get users, and the users are often children, to try to get them addicted.”
A statement from TikTok to Fox29 said “We remain vigilant in our commitment to user safety and would immediately remove related content if found.”
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Twanna Anderson and her attorney said that they wanted to better understand TikTok’s algorithm to try and prevent another senseless death at the hands of a social media challenge.
