A 12yearold girl died of asphyxiation while trying to film a video for the socalled “Blackout Challenge,” which went viral again on TikTok. The case happened on Friday (13th) in the city of Capitán Bermúdez in the Santa Fe province of Argentina. The same challenge led to fatalities in Italy and Chile in 2021.
Milagros Soto was found hanging from a makeshift noose in her bedroom. According to investigations by the MPA (public prosecutor’s office), the girl tried to complete the challenge of hanging herself by tying a shoelace or a belt around her neck until she lost consciousness and freed herself at the last moment.
“Once breathing is blocked, the goal is to pass out through suffocation. All of this is broadcast live on the networks, and whoever succeeds advances in the game. In this case, it didn’t work and the minor died trying,” one of the agents said, according to La Nacion newspaper.
“We have no consolation,” says the family. After the teenager’s death, an aunt of Milagros shared a post on her Facebook profile detailing the case and asking that the story be made public to alert netizens to the dangers of social media consumption.
“Hello everyone. My name is Lali. I am making public what I live. This is Milagros my niece who lost her life today (Friday) in a TikTok challenge. Please I ask you to share. My family and I have no consolation,” said Laura Luque.
In a note, the Teniente General Pablo Riccheri school, where Milagros studied, mourned the teenager’s death.
“We accompany our student’s family at this terrifying moment,” the institution said, describing the girl as “a great student, companion, sweet, good and kind.”
other cases
Milagros was not the first fatal victim of the Blackout Challenge. In 2021, two teenagers died from the virus.
One of the cases happened in Palermo, Italy, where a 10yearold girl suffocated after putting a belt around her neck to try and complete the challenge. She was found in the bathroom by her then 5yearold brother.
After the child’s death, the Italian government ordered the immediate suspension of TikTok user accounts under the age of 13.
In November of the same year, a 12yearold boy in Chile died the same way. He was found already lifeless in his room next to a timer clock.
What does the platform say?
In a note sent to UOL, the platform said it was “deeply sorry for the tragic loss of this family.”
View the position in full:
“We deeply regret the tragic loss of this family. The safety of our community is our top priority and we take any occurrence of a dangerous challenge very seriously. Content of this type is prohibited on our platform and will be removed if found.”
Additional information:
• The “Blackout Challenge” dates back to TikTok (see this 2008 CDC report) and we’ve never found any evidence that this type of content is trending on our platform.
• TikTok has a 13+ rating in the app stores, which allows parents to use devicelevel controls to prevent their kids from downloading TikTok. We have guides for parents designed to help parents become familiar with the tools we currently have such as B. Family pairing and tips for responsible use of the platform.
• TikTok has no video chat feature or video group.
Our broader work on dangerous challenges
The safety and wellbeing of our community is our priority and we do not allow content that promotes or encourages suicide or selfharm.
We’ve also removed alarming warnings about rumors of suicide or selfharm that could cause harm by treating them as real. We will continue to allow conversations aimed at dispelling panic and promoting accurate information.
We use a combination of technologies and moderation teams to identify, review, and, where appropriate, remove content or accounts that violate our Community Guidelines.
When we become aware of hashtags that have the potential to promote dangerous challenges, we take proactive steps to flag or block them.
In the third quarter of this year, 96.7% of videos removed for violating this policy were proactively removed by us without reporting, 91.6% before view and 91.1% within 24 hours after publication.