The tragic death of 12-year-old Archie Battersbee has prompted calls for social media giants to tackle the scourge of dangerous internet challenges. An inquest heard how Archie died on 6th August, after suffering a “catastrophic” brain injury while attempting the “blackout challenge”.
The Essex boy remained in a coma for four months after his mum, Hollie Dance, 46, found him unconscious in his room, with a ligature around his neck, in April. Archie was rushed to hospital but never regained consciousness. Hollie believes he had been taking part in a horrific challenge where participants choke themselves until they pass out.
© New Africa / Adobe Stock
The blackout challenge first surfaced 14 years ago. As one of the hundreds of social media challenges all over the world; some have been safe, harmless and even for charity such as the ice bucket challenge and mannequin challenge, while sadly, others can have lethal consequences.
The tragic passing of Archie Battersbee has again highlighted the dangers to young people on social media. Teenagers are particularly susceptible to Internet challenges: at an age where they can be impulsive and drawn to behaviour that attracts attention, the more daring the challenge seems, the more fascinating it becomes.
The blackout challenge has reportedly claimed the lives of 82 young people and left others brain damaged, according to research carried out independently by Hollie Dance. She says it’s often adults, rather than children, who are demonstrating the challenges. She believes kids are simply following their lead.
Bird Box challenge
Other potentially fatal social media challenges include the “Bird Box challenge” (named after a Netflix horror film), in which young people wearing blindfolds try to negotiate their way, either by car or on foot, through the traffic. YouTube banned videos of dangerous pranks in 2019, after a number of accidents.
In January 2019, a 17-year-old driver caused a two-car crash in Utah, in the United States, after pulling a beanie hat over her eyes as part of the challenge. She lost control and smashed into another vehicle, a light pole and a barrier. Although no one was injured, police said it could have been much worse.
Coronavirus challenge
The potentially fatal Coronavirus challenge circulated widely on TikTok at the height of the pandemic. It urged teenagers to try and deliberately get Covid-19 by licking different public objects such as door handles, public toilets and supermarket shopping trolleys.
Health officials branded the challenge as “stupid” because children didn’t understand the serious health implications of their actions. While young people who contracted coronavirus might not have serious symptoms, they could take it home and infect their parents or grandparents, with dangerous results.
Many kids tried out the challenge because they thought they couldn’t contract Covid since the media reported how most fatal cases were older people with pre-existing health conditions. Scientific research revealed the virus could live for three days on a surface that hadn’t been cleaned thoroughly and on an uncleaned surface for more than two weeks.
In March 2020, TikTok announced it was removing all Coronavirus challenge posts from its platform following adverse publicity.
Tide pod challenge
The Tide Pod challenge is particularly dangerous since it encourages young people to bite into a pod of laundry detergent. Although a toxic substance that has medical warnings on the packaging that it mustn’t be ingested, people accept the potentially fatal challenge.
Experts at the Florida Poison Information Centre say the “game” is highly dangerous. The pods contain concentrated, toxic detergent that can cause serious harm if eaten. A video entitled, “Don’t eat the laundry pods, seriously, they’re poison,” showed a college student eating a pod, even after researching the dangers. He ended up being carried out on an ambulance stretcher.
Why are teens susceptible to social media challenges?
Experts say teenagers’ brains are still developing and the prefrontal cortex (the part that handles rational thought) isn’t fully developed until the mid-20s. Teens are naturally impulsive and are likely to act first without thinking too much about the consequences.
Social media encourages and rewards outrageous behaviour, as many teens are striving to get “likes”. It’s an impulsive, fast-moving environment, where the fear of missing out is real for some young people.
They won’t consider that driving along for ten seconds wearing a blindfold can be fatal. The majority are more focused on being a popular kid, getting hundreds of “likes” and comments on their social media feed.
What are social media companies doing?
YouTube and TikTok have already taken steps to wipe out dangerous videos and challenges. However, some critics say it’s too little, too late. In July 2022, the families of two young girls who died in 2021, allegedly as a result of a TikTok blackout challenge, are suing the social media platform.
The parents of Lalani Erika Renee Walton and Arriani Jaileen Arroyo claim TikTok’s “dangerous algorithm” promoted harmful videos to the children. The families filed a suit in the Los Angeles County superior court, saying TikTok should be “held accountable for pushing deadly content” to children.
Following the Archie Battersbee tragedy, there have been calls to ban children from TikTok on the basis that it’s a potentially “dangerous” platform.
Facebook says it bans “dangerous” accounts and organisations. However, critics say this doesn’t go far enough, as it’s unclear whether accounts promoting potentially fatal challenges are included in the ban.
In March 2022, the House of Commons released a report, Regulating Online Harm, with a view to introducing a new Online Safety Bill. The legislation is set to target any online content and activities considered harmful including racism, cyberbullying, misogynistic abuse, pornography and any material promoting self-harm and violence.
What can we do to keep teenagers safe online?
Parents and guardians are urged to help children and teenagers stay safe online. Research by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has revealed that 58% of kids have been upset by something they have seen, posted by someone they don’t know in the “real world”. Only 22% of them have told an adult how they feel.
The charity says we must do more to encourage young people to talk about their online experiences to keep them safe. Rather than taking a back seat, adults are encouraged to be more proactive in guiding children towards safe online behaviour.
They need to approach the issue sensitively, encouraging open dialogue with kids about their social media experiences. This will make young people feel they can approach an adult if they sense something that’s happening is wrong.
While the right kind of social media challenges can be a positive and fun experience, even raising money for charity, calls are growing for greater action among social media organisations to stamp out potentially fatal challenges on their platforms.
