Essex mum takes legal action against TikTok claiming viral challenge caused death

An Essex mum is part of a group of British parents filing a lawsuit against TikTok in the United States, claiming the platform’s algorithms played a role in their children’s deaths.

Hollie Dance, the mother of 12-year-old Archie Battersbee, says the legal challenge aims to hold social media platforms accountable for harmful impacts on users.

Archie, described by Hollie as a “pranky, happy” boy, had planned to go to the cinema with her the day he died. Instead, Hollie received a call to emergency services lasting four minutes and twenty-three seconds after finding her son unresponsive.

After four months on life support, Archie passed away. Hollie says she continues to struggle with the loss and the unanswered questions surrounding what happened.

"You haven't started to grieve," Hollie told Sky News.

"You have that initial grief, that initial shock but when you don't know what happened to your child, it's very hard to find closure or come to any kind of sense about it all."

Parents involved in the lawsuit allege a dangerous online challenge went viral on TikTok, leading to tragic outcomes for young users.

TikTok has applied to dismiss the case, stating UK residents are suing US entities which do not operate or provide the social media firm's services in the UK.

It says established US law, such as the First Amendment, bars liability for third-party content on TikTok.

TikTok gave a statement to Sky News saying: "Our deepest sympathies remain with these families. We strictly prohibit content that promotes or encourages dangerous behaviour.

“Using robust detection systems and dedicated enforcement teams to proactively identify and remove this content, we remove 99% that's found to break these rules before it is reported to us."

The government are considering their options after there've been calls for an Australia-style social media ban for under-16s.

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