Italian prosecutors are investigating the accidental death of a ten-year-old girl who allegedly took part in a ‘blackout challenge’ on the video-sharing network TikTok.
The investigation came when Italy announced that it had temporarily blocked access to TikTok for users whose age could not be definitively proven.
According to TikTok’s terms and conditions, users must be at least 13 years old.
The girl died in a Palermo hospital after she was discovered by her five-year-old sister in the family bathroom on Wednesday with her cellphone seized by police.
TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, said on Friday that it had failed to identify any content on its website that could encourage the girl to take part in such a challenge, but was helping the authorities in the investigation into possible “incitement to suicide”.
“The safety of the TikTok community is our absolute priority. For this motive, we do not allow any content that encourages, glorifies behavior that may be dangerous,” a TikTok spokesman said.
The Italian data protection authority said in a statement later on Friday that it would block the (Chinese) social media network with immediate effect until February 15, by which date the network must meet the requirements of the regulator.
Medical experts have warned of the danger that some young people will face the challenge, referred to as ‘scarves’ or ‘the choking game’ in which oxygen to the brain causes a climax.
The girl’s parents told the newspaper La Repubblica that another daughter had explained that her sister was ‘playing the blackout game’.
“We knew nothing,” the girl’s father told the newspaper.
‘We did not know she was participating in this match. We knew that (our daughter) went dancing on TikTok to watch videos. How could I imagine this cruelty? He said.
The Italian data protection agency filed a case against TikTok in December, claiming a “lack of attention to the protection of minors” and criticism of the ease with which many young children can report to the video app.
TikTok, which went global in 2018, has built its rapid success on parodies, messages and short dance or comedy video performances against popular music – along with an algorithm that determines what content each user is likely to be interested in.
The death of the young girl provoked strong reactions in Italy and calls for better regulation of social networks.
“Social networks can not become a jungle where anything is allowed,” said Licia Ronzulli, president of the Italian parliamentary commission on child protection.