TikTok must face a lawsuit for recommending the viral ‘blackout challenge’
www.theverge.com
It’s a significant data point on the potential limits of Section 230.

TikTok has to face a lawsuit from the mother of 10-year-old Nylah Anderson, who “unintentionally hanged herself” after watching videos of the so-called blackout challenge on her algorithmically curated For You Page (FYP). The “challenge,” according to the suit, encouraged viewers to “choke themselves until passing out.”

TikTok’s algorithmic recommendations on the FYP constitute the platform’s own speech, according to the Third Circuit court of appeals. That means it’s something TikTok can be held accountable for in court. Tech platforms are typically protected by a legal shield known as Section 230, which prevents them from being sued over their users’ posts, and a lower court had initially dismissed the suit on those grounds.

  • Chahk@beehaw.org
    33·
    20 days ago

    social media should go back to being a purely chronological feed, curated by the users themselves, and cut corporate influence out of the equation.

    But then how would they make money if they can’t keep users doomscrolling forever to keep serving them ads? Won’t someone think of the shareholders?!