A US appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit against TikTok filed by the mother of a 10-year-old girl who died after participating in a viral “blackout” challenge.

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The lawsuit was filed after 10-year-old Nylah Anderson died in 2021 while attempting to complete a handbag strap challenge featured on TikTok. The lawsuit says TikTok did not take enough steps to prevent the spread of dangerous content and protect underage users.

TikTok won a dismissal of a lawsuit accusing the company of causing the death of a 10-year-old girl in the fall of 2022, arguing that the company was not responsible for user-generated content. However, a new ruling on August 27, 2024, overturned the court’s previous decision to dismiss the lawsuit.

The court ruled that a federal law that protects internet companies from content liability did not apply to TikTok’s recommendation algorithms. Judge Patty Shwartz said Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 only protects information provided by third parties, not recommendations from TikTok itself. The judge found that TikTok’s algorithms represented the company’s “editorial judgment” and were not protected by the law.

The mother’s lawyer said the ruling deprives big tech companies of a “free pass.” Judge Paul Matey added that TikTok, in its “pursuit of profit above all other values,” could choose to target children with content that emphasized “the lowest tastes” and could not invoke immunity that Congress did not grant.

Source: Reuters