Kids’ PM tells TikTok: Lives are at stake
CHILD Prime Minister Clark Dearson has urged TikTok to remove videos depicting or promoting life-threatening online challenges.
Clark, 11, who leads the Children’s Parliament, spoke out after an emotional meeting with Hollie Dance, the mother of tragic Archie Battersbee.
Archie died aged 12 in 2022 in an accident said to have resulted from a prank or experiment gone wrong.
Clark also spoke to Lisa Kenevan, who believes her 13-year-old son Isaac died taking part on an online “choking challenge”.
The mums are campaigning for greater online safety for kids, warning more will die if dangerous stunts and challenges continue to spread unchecked on online platforms.
Clark wrote to TikTok: “Two people have sadly died attempting to undertake the challenges on these disgraceful videos which I have been informed involve holding your breath for extremely long lengths of time.
“Most likely, many more people will be hurt unless you take down the videos. It is highly upsetting to know that, as a result of your lack of action, many lives are at stake and kids are dying or being severely injured.
“I don’t want any more innocent children to die.”
Clark also reminded the short-form video hosting service, which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, that it has guidelines in place to moderate harmful content. Referring to a certain film, he added: “This video is harming members of our community and, if this doesn’t go against those guidelines or even slightly concern you, then I don’t know what will.
“I implore you – remove the video from your site and do the right thing.”
Grieving
The grieving mums have formed a group for parents affected by tech dangers. Ms Dance said: “No parent should have to bury their child because of something they saw on the internet. We are in awe of Clark’s determination to prevent further tragedies at such a young age.”
Ms Kenevan, who is embarking on talks in schools about her harrowing experience, added: “We never thought our sons would pay the ultimate price for the reckless propagation of online challenges by tech giants more concerned with profits than child safety.
“Clark’s letter gives us hope that a new generation of leaders will hold these companies to account.”
The Children’s Parliament was founded by the late Sir David Amess, MP for Southend, Essex, where Archie died at home, and launched in 2021 by then-PM Boris Johnson.
TikTok said: “TikTok does not allow dangerous challenges, and we proactively find 99% of content removed for breaking these rules before it is reported to us. We partner with independent safeguarding organisations to continuously strengthen our approach, which includes age-restricting certain content and features, and blocking harmful search terms.”