The “blackout challenge” is a dangerous social‑media trend where people intentionally cut off their own air or blood flow to the brain until they pass out, often filming it to share online. It has been linked to serious brain injury and multiple child and teen deaths worldwide, and is widely condemned by doctors, safety experts, and parents.

What is the Blackout Challenge?

The blackout challenge (also called the choking or “pass‑out” challenge) involves using hands, belts, ropes, or other objects to restrict breathing or blood flow to the brain to cause a brief blackout or “high.” It spread widely on TikTok and other platforms around 2021, particularly among children and adolescents, and has reappeared in waves as a recurring online trend.

Many videos have shown young people attempting this alone in bedrooms or bathrooms, sometimes encouraged by peers or viral content, which dramatically increases the risk of fatal outcomes.

Why is it so dangerous?

When someone does the blackout challenge, they deprive the brain of oxygen (cerebral hypoxia), which can cause loss of consciousness in seconds and permanent brain damage in just a few minutes. Health experts note that brain death can occur in under five minutes of oxygen deprivation, so there is no “safe” way to experiment with this.

Additional risks include:

  • Strangulation injuries, cardiac arrest, seizures, and falls leading to head trauma.
  • Attempting it alone, which means no one is present to release the pressure or call emergency services if something goes wrong.
  • Unpredictable responses: one person may pass out slowly, another in seconds, making it impossible to control or “time” safely.

Real‑world consequences and latest news

The blackout challenge has been implicated in numerous child and teen deaths in various countries, sometimes leading to lawsuits against platforms for allegedly promoting or failing to remove such content. Reports describe cases where children as young as nine were found with ligatures around their necks after apparently copying the challenge they had seen online.

Public health agencies and safety organizations have compared this trend to earlier “choking games,” noting that similar behaviors were already responsible for dozens of deaths before the TikTok era. Concerned parents and advocacy groups are now pushing platforms to improve detection and blocking of dangerous challenges, though content can still circulate via reuploads, private shares, and other sites.

How parents and caregivers should respond

Experts recommend that parents and caregivers proactively talk with kids and teens about the blackout challenge and other viral stunts, rather than assuming they will ignore them. Conversations should emphasize that lack of breathing or blood flow is not a “game,” that brain damage can happen quickly and silently, and that peer pressure and online dares are never worth risking life.

Practical steps often suggested include:

  • Monitoring what children watch, their “For You” feeds, and what friends are sharing in group chats.
  • Teaching kids to report any videos that promote self‑harm or dangerous challenges to the platform and to tell a trusted adult immediately.
  • Encouraging safer, positive online challenges and praising kids for walking away from risky trends instead of joining in.

If you see blackout‑challenge content

If you encounter videos or posts encouraging the blackout challenge, safety organizations urge you to report them as dangerous or self‑harm content through the platform’s reporting tools. They also recommend talking directly with any young person you know who might have seen or shared such content, checking in on their safety, and seeking medical or emergency help right away if anyone has attempted it or shows concerning symptoms.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.