Venezuela’s highest court has imposed a $10 million fine on TikTok for viral challenges that allegedly led to the deaths of three teenagers due to chemical substance intoxication. Supreme Tribunal of Justice Judge Tania D’Amelio criticized the video-sharing app for its negligence in not implementing sufficient measures to prevent the spread of harmful content promoting these challenges.
As a consequence, TikTok, owned by ByteDance in China, has been ordered to establish an office in Venezuela and has eight days to pay the fine or face unspecified consequences. Venezuelan authorities reported that 200 other adolescents were also harmed across the country by the same challenges.
Venezuela would use the money to “create a TikTok victims fund, intended to compensate for the psychological, emotional and physical damages to users, especially if these users are children and adolescents,” D’Amelio said.
The company told the court that it “understands the seriousness of the matter,” she said.
TikTok’s success globally has been attributed in part to its popular challenges, which encourage users to create viral content featuring dances, jokes, or games. However, the company’s official policy prohibits such harmful activities.
