A 10-year-old girl in Italy has died after unintentionally strangling herself while engaging in the ''blackout challenge'' circulating on the social media app TikTok, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
The girl was declared dead Thursday at a hospital in Palermo, ANSA said.
The challenge dares an individual to choke oneself until they pass out, with the idea that they awake seconds later. However, the Italian girl tied a belt around her neck, resulting in being taken to the hospital in cardiac arrest.
The girl’s parents have agreed to donate their daughter’s organs for transplant.
The ''blackout challenge'' — and a similar variant called the ''pass out challenge'' in which someone shakes their head from side to side until they faint — reportedly have been circulating on TikTok for nearly a year.
The Italian government on Friday ordered data to be blocked on the app for any user whose age has not been verified. TikTok reportedly requires users to be at least 13 years old.
TikTok is popular among children, teens and younger adults for its ease of recording, editing and creating videos that can be shared among friends.
It also has gained notoriety for its ownership by Chinese company ByteDance. The Trump administration raised concerns and moved to block its use in the United States over unease that China can require tech companies to share its data with the government.
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