Deadly challenge at Tik Tok | Italy blocked the network …

The Italian body in charge of the protection of personal data has ordered to block until February 15 the operation of the social network Tik Tok in cases where the age of users can not be proven “with certainty”, after the death of ‘a 10-year-old girl during a challenge proposed by the firm which is being investigated as “incitement to suicide”.

“The guarantor of the protection of personal data has ordered in relation with Tik Tok the immediate blocking of the use of the data of the users for whom the anagographic age is not proven with certainty”, the body composed of parliamentarians responsible for online data protection in Italy.

The decision of the official body comes the day after the death of a 10-year-old Italian girl suffocated in the city of Palermo, in southern Italy, in Sicily, while she was leading a viral challenge proposed by the network social TikTok.

After the girl’s death, the Palermo prosecutor’s office investigated an alleged “incitement to suicide” as the cause of death.

The game in which the deceased girl was participating is called “Blackout challenge” and consists of children blocking their breath until they pass out and “thus having a thrill” which causes accidents every year, including some mortals.

As early as December, the personal data regulator had accused Tik Tok of a series of violations such as the lack of attention to the protection of minors; the ease with which it is possible to circumvent the ban, provided for by the same platform, on the registration of children under 13; the lack of transparency and clarity in the information provided to users; and using default settings that don’t respect privacy, the agency reported today.

Antonella, who took part in the so-called “blackout challenge”, put a belt around her neck in order to remain breathless as long as possible, while recording the scene with her cellphone, in the bathroom of her family home. , reported the Italian press.

The 5-year-old’s sister discovered the unconscious body and her parents took her to the children’s hospital in the city of Palermo, but she did not survive.

“We did not know anything,” confessed the father of the girl to the daily La Repubblica. “I only knew Antonella was going to TikTok to watch videos. How could I imagine this atrocity?” They said.

The mother and father of the deceased girl said that another 9-year-old sister was the one who explained what happened and told them: “Antonella was playing the choking game.”

“That my daughter, my little Antonella, die in an extreme game of TikTok, I cannot accept it!”, Added Angelo Sicomero, who together with his wife decided to donate the organs of the girl so that “d ‘other children can live thanks to her “.

The girl’s cell phone has been seized by investigators, who will need to determine if Antonella was in contact with other participants and if someone invited her to participate in the challenge or was making this video for a friend or relative. .

After the tragedy, the platform founded in 2016 – which claims to have 100 million users in Europe – released a statement.

“The safety of the Tik Tok community is our top priority, we are at the disposal of the competent authorities to cooperate with any investigation,” the document said.

Knowing the news of the death of the young Italian girl, the Argentinian specialist in computer security Sebastián Bortnik recommended working “the break” with children and adolescents against the use of technology and strengthening the dialogue with them of adults, who should accompany them “to educate them from early childhood.”

“Minors need to receive safe confinement in their digital life, from their close adults, families, teachers, who must be attentive to their digital world, where they spend a large part of their time,” said Telam Bortnik, author of the book Guide to Parenthood in a Digital World.

“What you need to work on is how this person copes with the viral challenges,” he added.

On the one hand, according to the specialist, there is something typical of adolescence “where nothing that is said can undermine a certain adolescent nature”, because there is a greater propensity to rebellion. or taking risks.

This description of adolescence, he continued, is complemented by two other characteristics; one is that networks create a false sense of belonging, “and viral challenges reinforce that,” Bortnik said.

Another quality of the digital world is speed: “We move with a lot of anxiety and verbiage and we don’t stop to think, and the idea of ​​a break is being built.”

The final factor that increases the risk of viral challenges in children and adolescents is loneliness.

“If a kid goes to a club and something happens to him, he will surely tell his family about it, but if something happens to him in the digital world, many times they feel like the adults are not there to accompany them and this space because the consultation is lacking ”, declared.

Before that, Bortnik underlined the need to “generate this idea that the adult is there to support and that this is also built”.

Any fact or suspicion of an action of grooming, the deliberate action of an adult to sexually harass a girl, boy or teenager via a digital medium that allows interaction between two or more people via social networks, e -mails, text messages, chat sites or online games can be reported through toll-free line 137, which operates nationwide.