Alert: 'Dangerous' challenge on TikTok claims the lives of nearly 20 children under 12

TikTok is a social media platform highly favored by the younger generation. Alongside meaningful content, there is also a plethora of 'junk' content negatively impacting users.

In the 1990s, a trend called the 'Breath-Holding Challenge' emerged, but due to the lack of modern platforms like today, it spread only by word of mouth and then disappeared. Recently, with the rise of TikTok, this risky game has resurfaced and gained massive popularity. Videos documenting the entire challenge process have attracted millions of views, along with various contrasting opinions.

The 'Breath-Holding Challenge' essentially encourages individuals to self-strangle using household objects, regardless of the item, as long as it tightens around the neck until they become unconscious. They record the entire scene while unconscious by pre-placing a camera in a corner that captures the entire process.

The rapidly spreading breath-holding challenge quickly attracts many participants aiming for views. However, individuals over 16 who are mindful of their actions will know when to stop at the right moment. What deserves condemnation here is the participation of many children under 12 in this game.

This has resulted in at least 20 children losing their lives while attempting challenges, as reported by Bloomberg Businessweek's compilation in just 18 months. And according to data from 2008 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this game has claimed the lives of a total of 82 teenagers.

In response to concerns from parents about this extreme content, they have filed lawsuits against the TikTok platform and its parent company ByteDance, claiming that the platform fails to control 'dirty' content that affects the lives of their children.

In February 2021, a 9-year-old girl from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, continued to be a victim of the 'Breath-Holding Challenge' when she used a household object wrapped around her neck, leading to suffocation. Subsequently, in Palermo, a 10-year-old girl named Antonella Sicomero was also found dead in a hanging position, and her parents revealed that she died from playing an extreme game on TikTok.

Following numerous deaths attributed to the game, in 2021, TikTok introduced a provision requiring players to verify they are over 13 years old to use TikTok accounts. This resulted in TikTok deleting over half a million user accounts under the age of 13.

However, fatalities from participating in challenge games continue to occur, and families persist in suing the TikTok platform. They attempt to blame TikTok and ByteDance, but their efforts failed in US courts. The court ruled that the company has immunity under the Communications Decency Act, which ensures that technology platforms are not legally responsible for content published on their websites.

Not limited to just this breath-holding game, around 2015, you may still recall the dangerous trend called the 'Blue Whale Challenge' within the youth community, leaving parents constantly worried about their children. Specifically, participants had to complete challenges provided by secret administrators within 50 days. Initially, the challenges were as simple as exchanging information on social media about blue whales, or watching movies about blue whales.

As the challenges progressed, they became increasingly dangerous, manipulating players' psychology to fulfill 'perverse' requests such as using knives or sharp objects to carve whale shapes onto their bodies. More egregiously, if players reached the 50th day to end the game and be recognized as winners, they had to forfeit their own lives.

Social media is a double-edged sword. Naturally, there are good aspects as well as bad ones, and being a social media platform, it's challenging to control human behavior. Therefore, in light of these tragic incidents, the only advice for families with underage children is to educate them about the dangers of social media to prevent unnecessary risks.

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