Parents sue TikTok after 7 kids die from profitable Blackout Challenge videos

DuhMagellan

Smack-Fu Master, in training
67
I'm still going to jump in with the "parents should take some responsibility for parenting" angle. I'm not saying TikTok shouldn't have taken the video down (although they are protected by Section 320) but how and why were these kids allowed to access and "become addicted" to TikTok? My daughter sure as hell didn't have access to social media, etc. at 8 or 9 years old.

Today, 50% of US children have a phone (and, because this is the 2020s, it'll be a smartphone; and, because Google like money, it will be a smartphone on which it is difficult to prevent Youtube access or app installation) by the age of seven.

For the 'watch them constantly' people, remember that parents often have two or more children, that children above the age of two can move about under their own power, and that children of any age would often rather not always be in the same room as each other and their parents.
This is dead easy to solve. Don't give your young children a phone and exercise constraints on when or where they can use other devices like games or computers.

It really is that easy. Our girls didn't get a phone until they were 13 and they didn't have a television or computer in their own bedrooms until they could buy their own. Sure they whinged about it solidly from maybe age 10 but hey, parents have responsibilities and we explained why. By 13 we'd had all the necessary conversations, and so had the school (which by the way, is one of the few state schools that doesn't allow any use of phones in school for anyone aged under 18 and hasn't so far undergone societal collapse).

This is not rocket science and although there are always going to be tragedies like these in the article, and sometimes it will make sense to prosecute or legislate, eventually parents do actually have to be responsible. (Someone else has already made the point that just because other parents are too lazy or daft or don't care doesn't mean you have to follow the herd.)
And how exactly do you stop your kids from seeing the phone of some other kid? It's not as if a kid personally needs to have a phone to be able to see a TikTok video.
 
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66 (70 / -4)

xoe

Ars Scholae Palatinae
7,496
. This kind of crap is why abortion should not only be legal but, in some cases, mandatory.
I hope no one lets you near a ballot box or legislature.
Edit: I bolded the part that I was concerned about, I'm hoping the negative response to my comment was due to a failure to recognize my perception of the significance of that last word.
 
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TimeToTilt

Ars Tribunus Militum
2,747
Ann Reardon wrote about a trend in YouTube that has killed over thirty adults verified to date so far. The wood burning thing with electricity. Nobody cares though and her video was pulled because it was dangerous... These companies need to show the most bare minimum of due diligence imo.

https://youtu.be/GZrynWtBDTE
I saw this one the other day, very tragic.

As an electrical engineer I can tell you that I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole (even of known insulative quality) - I certainly have the knowledge and skills to make a "safe" wood burning device for this, but the price of a mistake in design or implementation is quite high.

I happened on a video a while back that showed steps for making a tack welder out of a microwave transformer and was really disturbed by the lack of care about safe handling of very deadly electrical currents.

Wow. Making a welder from it? That's absurd.

I have decent electrical knowledge and thought the wood burning was neat but didn't realize they were using transformers from microwaves to do it. I just assumed there was a prep method to get classic 110 to work (been hit by that a half dozen times myself). No way I'm playing with it either, crazy how dangerous it is.
 
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19 (20 / -1)

donfelipe

Ars Scholae Palatinae
1,330
Ann Reardon wrote about a trend in YouTube that has killed over thirty adults verified to date so far. The wood burning thing with electricity. Nobody cares though and her video was pulled because it was dangerous... These companies need to show the most bare minimum of due diligence imo.

https://youtu.be/GZrynWtBDTE

I agree with your point.

I believe the original video is back up for anyone who is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzosDKcXQ0I&t=708s

When I heard of this I thought there was some sneakily dangerous aspect to this. But like, its pretty obvious that this is super dangerous (similar to people asphyxiating themselves on this story). So many "I almost tried this I didn't think it was dangerous" comments really make me lose faith in people. Sticking a fork in an electrical outlet is safe compared to what is going on here. Maybe that's just my electrical engineering background talking.
 
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31 (32 / -1)

hizonner

Ars Scholae Palatinae
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My daughter sure as hell didn't have access to social media, etc. at 8 or 9 years old.

That's not actually a very good way to protect her. As people have pointed out, she WILL see that stuff even if you don't know about it and even if it's not very often.

Better is to make sure that, by 8 or 9 years old, she knows that the Internet is full of fakes and idiots, and anything that seems dodgy probably is. And specifically that anything labelled as a "challenge" is trying to get you to do something moronic and self destructive.
 
Upvote
43 (47 / -4)
My brain isn't working so maybe it is there, but I couldn't find an explanation of what the Blackout Challenge is. Did I overlook it in the article?

It's actually a really old thing. I remember in the 90s when I first heard of it (then just called "blackout") with the goal being to see stars or something when blacking out. Even then eventually the news started reporting on it.

Then in the mid 2000s I heard from a young cousin of something called "space monkey" which was the same thing, only they called it that because supposedly when blacking out you'd see outer space. I'd say that iteration was more dangerous because it actively encouraged to have someone else strangle you. Apparently this is a thing that's been existing among kids and teens for decades. You'd think at some point it would kinda naturally snuff itself out as a trend, but I see somehow it keeps persisting.

On that note, these parents definitely share some responsibility when it comes to their kids using TikTok. Sure, TikTok might be addicting, but it's not like 10 year olds have the money or transportation means to use a smartphone / tablet / etc. Or the means to support any addiction they might have really. If a kid is addicted to something, you literally just... Take it away.
 
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aventari

Wise, Aged Ars Veteran
133
My daughter sure as hell didn't have access to social media, etc. at 8 or 9 years old.

That's not actually a very good way to protect her. As people have pointed out, she WILL see that stuff even if you don't know about it and even if it's not very often.

Better is to make sure that, by 8 or 9 years old, she knows that the Internet is full of fakes and idiots, and anything that seems dodgy probably is. And specifically that anything labelled as a "challenge" is trying to get you to do something moronic and self destructive.

It's not an either/or. You can do both. And social media access at 8 or 9 years old is idiotic.
 
Upvote
32 (34 / -2)
My brain isn't working so maybe it is there, but I couldn't find an explanation of what the Blackout Challenge is. Did I overlook it in the article?

Given that the first sentence uses the phrase "self-strangulation", I imagine that this challenge involves cutting off oxygen to one's brain in the pursuit of internet clout. How this hasn't resulted in more deaths/emergency room visits than it already has is beyond me, considering how often people seem to emulate what they see on TikTok.
In general the way this practice avoids death is that the method of restricting oxygen to the brain "fails safe", when you pass out you can't continue restricting oxygen and you recover. Note that this still leaves substantial room for injuries incurred by the uncontrolled fall when passing out (there's a fairly infamous video of a group of preteen boys trying this a smashing straight through the living-room's glass coffee-table). The big danger comes when either a friend is applying the restriction or especially when an apparatus like a rope is used. As evidenced by the fact that kids are actually trying the challenge, kids don't tend to realize just how dangerous passing out from lack of oxygen is and can end up holding the restriction on their friend for an extra 20 seconds or so after they pass out, putting them well into danger territory. With rope it tends to be that in passing out inadvertently put more tension on the rope, ensuring you won't wake up unless a bystander intervenes.

There's also an insidious element to these blackout games in that you experience a rush of euphoria when you come to that can tempt you to keep trying it.
A non-negligible fraction of people will also just die from strangulation even if removed at loss of conciousness. There are all kinds of ways to die - clots, heart conditions, and strange brain stem stuff (similar to how some people just seem to croak under anesthesia).

I hope no one thinks it's safe to self strangle...
 
Upvote
41 (41 / 0)
Ann Reardon wrote about a trend in YouTube that has killed over thirty adults verified to date so far. The wood burning thing with electricity. Nobody cares though and her video was pulled because it was dangerous... These companies need to show the most bare minimum of due diligence imo.

https://youtu.be/GZrynWtBDTE

I agree with your point.

I believe the original video is back up for anyone who is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzosDKcXQ0I&t=708s

When I heard of this I thought there was some sneakily dangerous aspect to this. But like, its pretty obvious that this is super dangerous (similar to people asphyxiating themselves on this story). So many "I almost tried this I didn't think it was dangerous" comments really make me lose faith in people. Sticking a fork in an electrical outlet is safe compared to what is going on here. Maybe that's just my electrical engineering background talking.

Careful, you might give some teen an idea for a TikTok "fork challenge".

Also, for those wondering about the wood burning thing that was spreading on YouTube (that YouTube is apparently TRYING to actively spread):

https://youtu.be/wzosDKcXQ0I

Follow up (and in case the original is taken down again): https://youtu.be/GZrynWtBDTE

Edit: ninjad
 
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Hispalensis

Ars Tribunus Militum
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The TikTok app is rated 13+. I know because as a parent that's been our shorthand reason of why the kids couldn't have it in their phones. A big fraction of their friends, though, do have the app and it is considered a cool thing. I also know that in real parenting life, these are more guidelines than strict rules, but I wonder if this offers TikTok some ammo to defect the blame here.
 
Upvote
18 (19 / -1)
Ann Reardon wrote about a trend in YouTube that has killed over thirty adults verified to date so far. The wood burning thing with electricity. Nobody cares though and her video was pulled because it was dangerous... These companies need to show the most bare minimum of due diligence imo.

https://youtu.be/GZrynWtBDTE

I agree with your point.

I believe the original video is back up for anyone who is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzosDKcXQ0I&t=708s

When I heard of this I thought there was some sneakily dangerous aspect to this. But like, its pretty obvious that this is super dangerous (similar to people asphyxiating themselves on this story). So many "I almost tried this I didn't think it was dangerous" comments really make me lose faith in people. Sticking a fork in an electrical outlet is safe compared to what is going on here. Maybe that's just my electrical engineering background talking.

Careful, you might give some teen an idea for a TikTok "fork challenge".

Also, for those wondering about the wood burning thing that was spreading on YouTube (that YouTube is apparently TRYING to actively spread):

https://youtu.be/wzosDKcXQ0I

Follow up (and in case the original is taken down again): https://youtu.be/GZrynWtBDTE
I believe that was a challenge. There were stories about house fires from it.
 
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bburdge

Ars Tribunus Militum
2,504
Subscriptor++
Ann Reardon wrote about a trend in YouTube that has killed over thirty adults verified to date so far. The wood burning thing with electricity. Nobody cares though and her video was pulled because it was dangerous... These companies need to show the most bare minimum of due diligence imo.

https://youtu.be/GZrynWtBDTE

I agree with your point.

I believe the original video is back up for anyone who is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzosDKcXQ0I&t=708s

When I heard of this I thought there was some sneakily dangerous aspect to this. But like, its pretty obvious that this is super dangerous (similar to people asphyxiating themselves on this story). So many "I almost tried this I didn't think it was dangerous" comments really make me lose faith in people. Sticking a fork in an electrical outlet is safe compared to what is going on here. Maybe that's just my electrical engineering background talking.
It IS your EE background talking.

The average person out there has very limited knowledge of electricity, how it flows, what voltage/current mean, and especially how dangerous it can be when mishandled.

Even people who are residential electricians are often dangerously ignorant in areas that are outside the standard voltage and current scales seen during their daily occupation.

Hell, even for myself, I ducked out of the power/circuits direction of EE as early as course requirements let me, so I am well aware there are huge areas dealing with high voltages and high currents that I am unfamiliar with the properties. Thus, I avoid messing with them.
 
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hizonner

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My daughter sure as hell didn't have access to social media, etc. at 8 or 9 years old.

That's not actually a very good way to protect her. As people have pointed out, she WILL see that stuff even if you don't know about it and even if it's not very often.

Better is to make sure that, by 8 or 9 years old, she knows that the Internet is full of fakes and idiots, and anything that seems dodgy probably is. And specifically that anything labelled as a "challenge" is trying to get you to do something moronic and self destructive.

It's not an either/or. You can do both. And social media access at 8 or 9 years old is idiotic.

It kind of IS an either/or. If the kid "does not have access to" TikTok or Youtube or whatever, that implies that you are not watching TikTok or Youtube or whatever with the kid, which means you are not in a position to point out how various videos are stupid or manipulative.

At 8 or 9, not very many people can learn to recognize what's going on behind the scenes just by being abstractly told "there are a bunch of liars and fools on the Internet". They need specific examples.

You can either provide those examples, or not.
 
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10 (16 / -6)

hizonner

Ars Scholae Palatinae
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Subscriptor
Ann Reardon wrote about a trend in YouTube that has killed over thirty adults verified to date so far. The wood burning thing with electricity. Nobody cares though and her video was pulled because it was dangerous... These companies need to show the most bare minimum of due diligence imo.

https://youtu.be/GZrynWtBDTE
I saw this one the other day, very tragic.

As an electrical engineer I can tell you that I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole (even of known insulative quality) - I certainly have the knowledge and skills to make a "safe" wood burning device for this, but the price of a mistake in design or implementation is quite high.

I happened on a video a while back that showed steps for making a tack welder out of a microwave transformer and was really disturbed by the lack of care about safe handling of very deadly electrical currents.

Wow. Making a welder from it? That's absurd.

The standard welder project unwinds the secondary from the transformer and replaces it with a couple of turns of very heavy wire. You no longer have a 2kV microwave oven transformer; instead you have a much less dangerous high-current, low-voltage transformer.

Not that you can't start a fire with it or fry your eyes with UV or whatever, or even electrocute yourself with the primary, but it's not in the same class of electrocution hazard as the unmodified transformer.
 
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donfelipe

Ars Scholae Palatinae
1,330
Ann Reardon wrote about a trend in YouTube that has killed over thirty adults verified to date so far. The wood burning thing with electricity. Nobody cares though and her video was pulled because it was dangerous... These companies need to show the most bare minimum of due diligence imo.

https://youtu.be/GZrynWtBDTE

I agree with your point.

I believe the original video is back up for anyone who is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzosDKcXQ0I&t=708s

When I heard of this I thought there was some sneakily dangerous aspect to this. But like, its pretty obvious that this is super dangerous (similar to people asphyxiating themselves on this story). So many "I almost tried this I didn't think it was dangerous" comments really make me lose faith in people. Sticking a fork in an electrical outlet is safe compared to what is going on here. Maybe that's just my electrical engineering background talking.
It IS your EE background talking.

The average person out there has very limited knowledge of electricity, how it flows, what voltage/current mean, and especially how dangerous it can be when mishandled.

Even people who are residential electricians are often dangerously ignorant in areas that are outside the standard voltage and current scales seen during their daily occupation.

Hell, even for myself, I ducked out of the power/circuits direction of EE as early as course requirements let me, so I am well aware there are huge areas dealing with high voltages and high currents that I am unfamiliar with the properties. Thus, I avoid messing with them.

I didn't even have the option to take classes on AC power outside lower division. I learned a decent bit on the job about DC high power, but was still uneasy testing a 160A load at 35VDC even with all the precautions in place.

The videos showing people holding live leads to set fire to wood literally made me nauseous. I always feel like people treat electricity like magic, but still need to learn young that exposed electrical lines==DANGER.
 
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chanman819

Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
6,697
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My brain isn't working so maybe it is there, but I couldn't find an explanation of what the Blackout Challenge is. Did I overlook it in the article?

It's actually a really old thing. I remember in the 90s when I first heard of it (then just called "blackout") with the goal being to see stars or something when blacking out. Even then eventually the news started reporting on it.

Then in the mid 2000s I heard from a young cousin of something called "space monkey" which was the same thing, only they called it that because supposedly when blacking out you'd see outer space. I'd say that iteration was more dangerous because it actively encouraged to have someone else strangle you. Apparently this is a thing that's been existing among kids and teens for decades. You'd think at some point it would kinda naturally snuff itself out as a trend, but I see somehow it keeps persisting.

On that note, these parents definitely share some responsibility when it comes to their kids using TikTok. Sure, TikTok might be addicting, but it's not like 10 year olds have the money or transportation means to use a smartphone / tablet / etc. Or the means to support any addiction they might have really. If a kid is addicted to something, you literally just... Take it away.

I remember hearing similar warnings from the news/adults while in both elementary and high school, having no idea what they were talking about and wondering if it was some moral panic about suicides
 
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ERIFNOMI

Ars Legatus Legionis
17,197
Ann Reardon wrote about a trend in YouTube that has killed over thirty adults verified to date so far. The wood burning thing with electricity. Nobody cares though and her video was pulled because it was dangerous... These companies need to show the most bare minimum of due diligence imo.

https://youtu.be/GZrynWtBDTE

I agree with your point.

I believe the original video is back up for anyone who is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzosDKcXQ0I&t=708s

When I heard of this I thought there was some sneakily dangerous aspect to this. But like, its pretty obvious that this is super dangerous (similar to people asphyxiating themselves on this story). So many "I almost tried this I didn't think it was dangerous" comments really make me lose faith in people. Sticking a fork in an electrical outlet is safe compared to what is going on here. Maybe that's just my electrical engineering background talking.

Careful, you might give some teen an idea for a TikTok "fork challenge".

Also, for those wondering about the wood burning thing that was spreading on YouTube (that YouTube is apparently TRYING to actively spread):

https://youtu.be/wzosDKcXQ0I

Follow up (and in case the original is taken down again): https://youtu.be/GZrynWtBDTE
I believe that was a challenge. There were stories about house fires from it.
A house fire is really the least of your worries. A microwave transformer will happily kill your ass dead and there is absolutely nothing there to protect you.
 
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23 (23 / 0)

bburdge

Ars Tribunus Militum
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Before the "parents shouldn't have let them use TikTok" comments flood in:

We decided as a society a ways back that parental responsibility did not give companies free-reign to market harmful items to minors.

Such as "Joe Cool" a cartoon camel advertising cigarettes: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/pr ... w-ftc-says

There's certainly a need to prove (in court) that TikTok is addictive to children, and further that TikTok knowingly engages in pushing this addictiveness towards children.

But parental responsibility is not a shield for companies trying to entice children into harmful addiction generally.


Parental responsibility is not a shield and TikTok should be prosecuted for the crime of marketing an addictive and dangerous product to children. But if TikTok is responsible for the death of the children aged far too young to be using an addictive product (they are), the parents also share responsibility. A parent that gave a 8 year old a cigarette would be negligent (at best). The same applies to TikTok which is far more addictive as anyone who has spent any time on it knows.

Both TikTok and the parents can be in the wrong here, and are.
No disagreement on parental responsibility being applicable, certainly. I'm talking towards the viewpoint that parental responsibility is the only, or even majority factor.

I downplay parental responsibility relative to corporate because of the difficulties that even a responsible parent is up against. Sure, maybe you don't let your child use TikTok, but then they go to school, and kids on the playground, or they visit a friend and those parents allow TikTok.

An excessive focus on parental responsibility leads to helicopter parenting, as parents are forced to monitor every minute of the child's life or risk being liable for irresponsible parenting if their child comes to harm.

Helicopter parenting is itself not healthy for either parents or children, and if we want to avoid that, then we must have some level of overall agreement that there is a wider responsibility of others in society towards children, including corporations.

So if a child goes to a friends place and their parent gives them a Bud Light and something happens to that child, is the responsibility on the parent, or Budweiser? It's a different world, and parents aren't adapting fast enough. I think part of it is that those (like me, although I don't have kids) grew up just as technology was starting, and we all did things that we shouldn't have with it. We aren't translating that to today, where we should know some tech is dangerous and we shouldn't give our kids, or our kids friends, access to everything that they want.

Is Budweiser advertising in a child enticing way? (Honestly that puppy bowl thing always struck me that way)

Does Budweiser know that kids drinking is driving up their profits, and engage in improving their outreach to kids?

Has Budweiser avoided good-faith efforts to stop kids from drinking?

If we answer yes to those questions; then yes, Budweiser should be held accountable for their part in encouraging child harm.

And we 100% did bring this same action against tobacco, why would we not hold alcohol accountable?
https://apnews.com/article/ce9e3e9c7595 ... 112a75bb7e
 
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30 (32 / -2)

Golgo1

Ars Praefectus
5,046
Subscriptor
Before the "parents shouldn't have let them use TikTok" comments flood in:

We decided as a society a ways back that parental responsibility did not give companies free-reign to market harmful items to minors.

Such as "Joe Cool" a cartoon camel advertising cigarettes: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/pr ... w-ftc-says

There's certainly a need to prove (in court) that TikTok is addictive to children, and further that TikTok knowingly engages in pushing this addictiveness towards children.

But parental responsibility is not a shield for companies trying to entice children into harmful addiction generally.

Do we care about dead kids ? 50 kids under 2 get run over every week by cars reversing from drive ways in the US, that's just driveways. The Netherlands blocked cites, rolled cars over and protested to remove cars becase of it. The biggest cause of deaths for kids, after cars in the US, is guns. So I am.not sure why the angst about TikTok.

Then we have the entire food industry, Happy Meals and other such things promoting obesity. I am sure if you asked TikTok if they are ok that kids are dieing they'd genuinely say no, just like Ruger, McDonalds or Ford would.

bad equivalency is bad

All your example have decades of regulation and laws around them.
 
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26 (28 / -2)

bburdge

Ars Tribunus Militum
2,504
Subscriptor++
Ann Reardon wrote about a trend in YouTube that has killed over thirty adults verified to date so far. The wood burning thing with electricity. Nobody cares though and her video was pulled because it was dangerous... These companies need to show the most bare minimum of due diligence imo.

https://youtu.be/GZrynWtBDTE

I agree with your point.

I believe the original video is back up for anyone who is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzosDKcXQ0I&t=708s

When I heard of this I thought there was some sneakily dangerous aspect to this. But like, its pretty obvious that this is super dangerous (similar to people asphyxiating themselves on this story). So many "I almost tried this I didn't think it was dangerous" comments really make me lose faith in people. Sticking a fork in an electrical outlet is safe compared to what is going on here. Maybe that's just my electrical engineering background talking.

Careful, you might give some teen an idea for a TikTok "fork challenge".

Also, for those wondering about the wood burning thing that was spreading on YouTube (that YouTube is apparently TRYING to actively spread):

https://youtu.be/wzosDKcXQ0I

Follow up (and in case the original is taken down again): https://youtu.be/GZrynWtBDTE
I believe that was a challenge. There were stories about house fires from it.
A house fire is really the least of your worries. A microwave transformer will happily kill your ass dead and there is absolutely nothing there to protect you.
I think they meant a fork in the outlet.

I do seem to recall that being a thing going around, putting foil, paperclips, or other conductors into the socket to short things out and pop breakers.
 
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Hispalensis

Ars Tribunus Militum
1,895
Subscriptor
Ann Reardon wrote about a trend in YouTube that has killed over thirty adults verified to date so far. The wood burning thing with electricity. Nobody cares though and her video was pulled because it was dangerous... These companies need to show the most bare minimum of due diligence imo.

https://youtu.be/GZrynWtBDTE

I agree with your point.

I believe the original video is back up for anyone who is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzosDKcXQ0I&t=708s

When I heard of this I thought there was some sneakily dangerous aspect to this. But like, its pretty obvious that this is super dangerous (similar to people asphyxiating themselves on this story). So many "I almost tried this I didn't think it was dangerous" comments really make me lose faith in people. Sticking a fork in an electrical outlet is safe compared to what is going on here. Maybe that's just my electrical engineering background talking.

Careful, you might give some teen an idea for a TikTok "fork challenge".

Also, for those wondering about the wood burning thing that was spreading on YouTube (that YouTube is apparently TRYING to actively spread):

https://youtu.be/wzosDKcXQ0I

Follow up (and in case the original is taken down again): https://youtu.be/GZrynWtBDTE
I believe that was a challenge. There were stories about house fires from it.
A house fire is really the least of your worries. A microwave transformer will happily kill your ass dead and there is absolutely nothing there to protect you.
I think they meant a fork in the outlet.

I do seem to recall that being a thing going around, putting foil, paperclips, or other conductors into the socket to short things out and pop breakers.

Yup, my kids mentioned that one, since they don't have an account they cannot record themselves doing stupid things (plus they had the common sense to suspect that somehow that seemed like a bad idea).

But this makes me wonder if we could leverage tiktok challenges to trick them into do safety chores, like the "test as many gfcis in your household as you can challenge, press test and then reset! Check if it clicks!"
 
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bburdge

Ars Tribunus Militum
2,504
Subscriptor++
Before the "parents shouldn't have let them use TikTok" comments flood in:

We decided as a society a ways back that parental responsibility did not give companies free-reign to market harmful items to minors.

Such as "Joe Cool" a cartoon camel advertising cigarettes: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/pr ... w-ftc-says

There's certainly a need to prove (in court) that TikTok is addictive to children, and further that TikTok knowingly engages in pushing this addictiveness towards children.

But parental responsibility is not a shield for companies trying to entice children into harmful addiction generally.

Do we care about dead kids ? 50 kids under 2 get run over every week by cars reversing from drive ways in the US, that's just driveways. The Netherlands blocked cites, rolled cars over and protested to remove cars becase of it. The biggest cause of deaths for kids, after cars in the US, is guns. So I am.not sure why the angst about TikTok.

Then we have the entire food industry, Happy Meals and other such things promoting obesity. I am sure if you asked TikTok if they are ok that kids are dieing they'd genuinely say no, just like Ruger, McDonalds or Ford would.
No, it's not at all like Ars had an article on requiring backup cameras to help prevent children from being run over.

Oh wait, sorry, they did: https://meincmagazine.com/gadgets/2014/03 ... s-in-2018/

But Ars certainly hasn't had any discussion on the dangers of firearms to children.

What? Oh, I have been been informed Dr. Mole weighed in on that just last week: https://meincmagazine.com/science/2022/05 ... erts-plea/

Huh it's almost like Ars cares about children dying; from cars, or guns, or TikTok challenges...

So kindly accept both my middle fingers as a response to your whataboutism.
 
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Wheels Of Confusion

Ars Legatus Legionis
75,415
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Just last night I joked that doing anything that had the words "TikTok" and "Challenge" in the same sentence was pretty much a death sentence.
I hadn't even heard of this one.
Jesus. I'm half-convinced there's rogue, atavistic eugenicists out there trying to pick people off before they reproduce.
 
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17 (17 / 0)

solomonrex

Ars Legatus Legionis
13,516
Subscriptor++
Another day, another scammer illegally aiming at the deep pockets instead of the guilty party.

TokTok is distributing this content and needs to be held accountable for the deaths it directly caused. Scammers are the ones pretending that corporations can’t be held accountable, like yourself. All internet companies should be held 100% responsible for content. YouTube should never have had rampant piracy, that’s illegal. There was a choice made and it was the wrong choice, we don’t need a free for all online, where free content is exploited irresponsibly. Ars takes responsibility, TikTok can too.
 
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-4 (8 / -12)
Eight and nine year old children have absolutely no business being on the internet, let alone TikTok, without direct parental supervision. TikTok may be held liable for this, but it is 100% the fault of parents for allowing their children access to unsupervised internet connected devices. This isn't the 90s, where few people know just how bad things on the internet are, but yet here we are, letting our kids play in the middle of a busy highway, then blaming the vehicle when they get run over.
 
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-17 (4 / -21)

Dawnrazor

Ars Tribunus Militum
1,941
I'm getting so tired of hearing parents cry about their 8 year old being addicted to the internet. Take their phone away. It's truly that simple. Why did you give an 8 year old a phone to begin with? I'm betting the real answer is "to shut them up so I don't have to pay attention to them." I don't care if Purdue Pharma is making cartoons about how cool opioids are, you're the reason they keep watching it. Y'all cram a screen in their face every second they get and then wonder why they shoot up their schools or kill themselves. This kind of crap is why abortion should not only be legal but, in some cases, mandatory.

Why do you give a kid a phone?

Maybe because they leave the house occasionally and need a way to call home to get picked up? When was the last time you saw a pay phone?
 
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28 (28 / 0)