Girl dies after ‘blackout challenge’ on social media

A nine-year-old girl from Texas has died after taking part in a dangerous ‘blackout challenge’ that has spread on social media. According to the New York Post, JackLynn Blackwell died in early February in the backyard of her family’s home, shortly after showing her grandmother a video of the challenge.

Her father, Curtis Blackwell, said he became ‘aware of an unusual silence’ when his daughter went outside to play. When he went to check on her, he found her unconscious with a cord around her neck.

Parents are warning about the risks posed by social media trends and urging others to pay close attention to what their children are watching. According to her father, this is not a game but a matter of life and death, with children aged around nine to 14 particularly vulnerable.

The case comes shortly before the start of a lawsuit in California concerning the liability of technology companies for harm caused to children through the use of their platforms.

Meta and Google are defending themselves against claims that their platforms deliberately foster addiction and harm children. TikTok and Snap, which were originally part of the lawsuit, settled with the plaintiffs before the trial began.

(max)