TikTok sued following death of 10-year-old user of the social app
Social media firms continue to take advantage of a vulnerable population, will their insurers be on the hook to defend and indemnify?
TikTok Inc. has been sued by the family of a 10-year-old girl who died after allegedly participating in an online challenge in which TikTok users choked themselves until they blacked out. The case is Anderson v. TikTok Inc., 22-cv-01849, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
It is unclear in the complaint and subsequent reporting whether or not TikTok has a liability policy in place, but if the company does have liability coverage this lawsuit will likely trigger the insurers’ duty to defend. These lawsuits are highlighting the habit of social media giants of seizing opportunities arising in the new digital age to manipulate and control the behavior of vulnerable children to “maximize attention dedicated to their social media platforms and thus maximize revenues and profits, all while shirking any safety responsibilities whatsoever,” states the lawsuit.
According to a complaint filed in federal court last week, Nylah Anderson was an intelligent child who spoke three languages. She was found unconscious in her bedroom on December 7, 2021, and spent five days in a pediatric intensive care unit before succumbing to her injuries.
Her family blamed the social media platform for negligence and marketing a defective product, claiming in the complaint that the dangerous dare was “thrust in front” of Nylah on her “for you page” (FYP). The content featured on the FYP is determined by an algorithm that takes into account your viewing preferences, account settings, and even your current state of mind.
According to the complaint, the “algorithm determined that the deadly blackout challenge was well-tailored and likely to be of interest to 10-year-old Nylah Anderson and she died as a result.” The suit also claims that at least four other children have died while participating in the blackout challenge.
The TikTok case joins several other social media companies of wrongful deaths, including one against Snapchat after a car crash that killed three young men who were using a speedometer feature to record themselves driving at 120 mph prior to the accident, and a case stemming from an Instagram addiction-related suicide.
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