According to Christian Post, the Social Media Victims Law Center filed a civil lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance Ltd., in a Los Angeles County court on behalf of the families of Lalani Erika Walton, age eight and Arriani Jaileen Arroyo, age nine,, two children who died while attempting the viral TikTok challenge known as the "blackout challenge." The parents claim their children became addicted to TikTok and that the platform promoted content that influenced the kids to harm themselves.

This tragedy demands that we again warn parents. If you give your children smart phones, please use all the parent controls available, add a strong filter, have and enforce usage rules, inspect the phone frequently, limit screen time—and always talk to your children about the power of social media. You must be their defenders.