Interview: The Families Taking TikTok to Court
Newscast
BBC
4.3 • 6.6K Ratings
🗓️ 9 February 2025
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, listen in full to an exclusive group interview for BBC One's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg with the four British families suing TikTok for the alleged wrongful deaths of their children.
The parents believe their children died after taking part in a viral trend that circulated on the video-sharing platform in 2022.
TikTok says it prohibits dangerous content and challenges. It has blocked searches for videos and hashtags related to the particular challenge the children's parents say is linked to their deaths.
You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhere Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Laura Kuenssberg. It was made by Jack Maclaren. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The editor is Sam Bonham.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:04.5 | Hi, it's Laura, and it's late on Saturday night as I'm recording this. |
| 0:09.0 | And earlier today, I interviewed and had the honour of speaking to some really amazing families. |
| 0:15.3 | Four families in this country who believe that their children lost their lives |
| 0:20.2 | after taking part in viral challenges |
| 0:22.4 | on the social media platform TikTok have taken the big step of suing the company in the United |
| 0:28.8 | States. I spoke to them today as they prepare their legal fight suing TikTok for the alleged |
| 0:34.4 | wrongful deaths of their kids. They've accused the tech giant of having |
| 0:38.4 | no compassion. The lawsuit was filed in America on Thursday and it claims that Isaac Kenovan, |
| 0:44.7 | who was 13, Archie Battersby, who was 12, Julian, Jules Sweeney and Maya Walsh, who was 13, |
| 0:51.6 | all died while attempting the so-called blackout challenge. Speaking to the |
| 0:56.6 | parents was so moving, not least because the deaths of their children all came as a complete |
| 1:02.3 | shock and surprise. They told me what it was like in the moments when they realised that their |
| 1:07.9 | children had passed away and how their fight for the truth to find out |
| 1:12.5 | what happened has been thwarted as they see it by the company TikTok itself. TikTok have said |
| 1:19.3 | they prohibit dangerous content and challenges and they say they've blocked searches for videos |
| 1:24.6 | and hashtags relating to particular challenges that the parents say |
| 1:28.6 | is linked to their deaths. It's an incredible story, frankly a story I'd rather we didn't have to tell, |
| 1:36.0 | but it's a story of our times. Social media, how it can be fun, it can be great, it can bring |
| 1:42.0 | people together, but sometimes and all too often, the effect it |
| 1:46.6 | has on society, on families, and all of us can be devastating too. And it also gives you a sense of |
| 1:53.8 | how families find themselves alone and then sometimes find each other united in a fight for the truth, |
... |
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