Italy blocks Tik Tok for users whose age is not guaranteed after 10-year-old Antonella dies

Parents are still worried about the favorite app of teens.

This Friday morning, the Italian media revealed that a 10-year-old girl, living in Palermo, had died during a "headscarf game".

Antonella, that's her first name, took part in a "blackout challenge" on the social network in the bathroom of the family home, had a belt around her neck with the aim of staying without breathing as long as possible , while checking in with his cell phone.

It was her 5-year-old sister who discovered her on Wednesday evening.

This Friday evening, the Authority for the protection of personal data indicated in a press release "block the Chinese social network" with immediate effect and until February 15.

This concretely means that TikTok is prohibited from using "the data of users whose age has not been established with absolute security," detailed the regulator in a statement.

The seized phone, an open investigation

An emergency measure to protect its minors which directly follows the tragedy in Sicily.

The Palermo public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation for "incitement to suicide".

The girl's cell phone has been seized by investigators, who will need to determine if Antonella was live with other participants, if someone invited her to participate in the challenge, or if she was making this video for a friend or family member. knowledge.

Tik Tok is used by young people to share clips of themselves, most of them with pre-recorded background sound.

The opportunity for them to play back the lyrics of their favorite artists, or to replay lines from their favorite films.

In France, it is estimated that the application has 11 million users.

But there is also content inappropriate for children, as, in September, when a video of a suicide was uploaded.

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Contacted by La Repubblica, the girl's father explained that he “didn't know she was participating in this game. I knew that Antonella was going on TikTok for choreography, to see videos.

But how could I imagine this atrocity?

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The "headscarf game", in which children block their breathing until they pass out to experience strong sensations, each year causes accidents, some of which are fatal.

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