According to foxnews, the mother of a 13-year-old boy who died after trying TikTok’s “choking challenge” urged legislators Wednesday to take action against the social media site as Congress analyzes the company’s possible deadly influence on youngsters and national security issues.
Annie McGrath of Wisconsin discovered her son Griffin dead in his room in February 2018 after a friend at school dared him to participate in a fatal TikTok video trend known as the “blackout challenge” or “choking game,” which encourages participants to hold their breath until they pass out from a lack of oxygen.
Adolescents and the dangers of social media
McGrath, who had never heard of the challenge before her son’s death, started researching the risks of social media for youngsters after learning that her family had joined a list of others who had lost loved ones due to alarming internet trends.
McGrath has made it her goal to raise awareness about the dangers of social media platforms for youngsters.
She spends most of her time reporting dubious material on TikTok and YouTube.
“My son, Griffin, was a great, intellectual boy,” she remarked on “The Story” on Wednesday. “He took on this dangerous undertaking. A student at school dared him. He had his own YouTube channel and was an expert at the Rubix Cube… Just a regular youngster fooling about and having fun.”
“The point is, if kids watch it a million times, they won’t be afraid. They’ll believe it’s no big deal and do these things. When it occurred, he was FaceTiming with two of his classmates, “She said.
Social media networks are rejecting requests to delete contents
McGrath claims she has repeatedly contacted TikTok and YouTube, requesting that they remove content that promotes self-harm, but has been ignored. She finds it “infuriating” that most of the harmful content she flagged for the social media platforms remains online, putting other children at risk. McGrath has joined a class action lawsuit against the social media behemoths to hold them responsible for failing to respond to user concerns regarding the spread of deadly trends on their platforms.
“It’s frustrating,” she told Martha MacCallum of Fox News. “I can easily locate 50 videos of youngsters aggressively choking themselves in 5 minutes. When I locate the same ones daily and report them, they are never removed. They’re still up after four years. Every time we learn of other children who have died, it tears my heart since we’re trying to screen them and warn other parents.”
In 2022, McGrath joined 56 other sad parents whose children died due to social media harms in writing a letter to congressional leadership requesting that the Kids Online Safety Act, which would enforce internet safeguards for minors, be passed by the end the year.
The deadline passed without the legislation being enacted. But, with Congress considering a total ban on TikTok, McGrath is encouraging politicians to learn from her personal tragedy and act decisively to safeguard youngsters on social media.
“TikTok – that’s where youngsters see new challenges appear every day…
Many parents have children who perished as a result of the choking game. Many children are bullied or discover drugs online. Everything, and it’s all because of social media, “McGrath said. “We know that our children would not be here if it weren’t for social media. It is not acceptable.”
