In the midst of TikTok being sued for wrongful death after two California girls died by hanging themselves after watching ‘blackout challenge’ videos on the platform, another case of the deadly online trend has emerged from Scotland, where a 14-year-old boy died.
Leon Brown, 14, was discovered unresponsive in his room on August 25 by his mother Lauryn Keating, who issued a warning to other families about the dreaded game on Thursday. She later discovered that her son died while attempting the ‘blackout challenge,’ a viral trend that is thought to have caused the brain injury that resulted in the death of 12-year-old Archie Battersbee last month.
In this challenge, kids film themselves holding their breath until they pass out from lack of oxygen before sharing the videos on social media. TikTok has come under fire following several deaths, with some parents even suing the video-sharing app over claims that the platform’s algorithm promotes ‘blackout challenge’ videos.
After learning that her son had died as a result of the dreaded challenge, Keating told Scotland’s Daily Record that one of Leon’s friends informed her of Leon taking the challenge on Facetime. ‘One of Leon’s friends told me he had been doing the challenge on Facetime with them after seeing it on TikTok,’ she told the paper.
‘My Leon thought he’d be the first to try it. His friends and he most likely thought it was a joke. I went on TikTok and typed out words related to the blackout challenge. The number of video results that came up on it is insane,’ she added.
Leon died just weeks after Archie Battersbee was removed from life support on August 16. The ‘blackout challenge ‘also affected the 12-year-old. TikTok recently urged users to flag the potentially fatal challenge by clicking the ‘Report’ symbol in response to the deaths, but the app is still reportedly loaded with footage depicting the potentially fatal challenge, according to the New York Post.
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