A Battle Far From Over
The lawsuit’s dismissal comes more than two years after it was first filed. The plaintiffs include Indiana mother Joann Bogard, whose son died in 2019 after attempting the “choking challenge” on YouTube, and Wisconsin’s Annie McGrath, who lost her son in 2018 to the same viral trend. Both mothers say their attempts to report the content fell on deaf ears.
Another plaintiff, Jane Doe of Oregon, alleges her son was bullied in a TikTok video. Despite an initial claim that it didn’t violate guidelines, TikTok later removed it after further internal review. The plaintiffs argue the platforms’ reporting tools give users a false sense of security, positioning them as a “first response hotline” when in reality, there are no guarantees of content removal.
Judge DeMarchi rejected that analogy, finding no evidence that YouTube or TikTok assumed a duty to immediately remove harmful content. She also noted that nothing prevents users from seeking help through other means, such as reporting videos to law enforcement.
