Blumenthal Calls on TikTok to Act After 12-Year-Old East Haven Boy Suffered Serious Burns While Attempting "Whoosh Bottle Experiment"
“TikTok must do better to enforce its own community guidelines and promote the safety and best interests of all users on its platform.”
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – After a twelve-year-old boy in East Haven, Connecticut, was seriously injured while trying to recreate the “Whoosh Bottle Experiment” he saw on TikTok, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) urged the company to enforce its own terms of service and community guidelines, and take down videos showing and encouraging dangerous acts before they cause injuries. The “Whoosh Bottle Experiment,” where alcohol is poured in a plastic bottle and then set on fire to hear a “whoosh” sound, is among a number of TikTok videos that have resulted in injuries, including a previous trend of drawing shapes in rubbing alcohol and lighting them on fire that injured multiple children.
“Time and again, TikTok users—including children—are seriously injured attempting to emulate videos they watch,” Blumenthal wrote to TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew. “Yet TikTok has repeatedly failed to remove dangerous videos in the absence of external pressure. Until the “Whoosh Bottle Experiment” caused a severe injury, videos associated with the experiment remained active on your platform. This is not the first time TikTok has removed videos and tags only after reports of serious harm. TikTok cannot wait for external pressure—and serious injuries—to act. TikTok should be enforcing its own community guidelines and promptly removing videos that promote harmful behaviors.”
Blumenthal requested that the TikTok CEO meet with him, Connecticut school officials, and parents to “explain how harmful videos, such as the “Whoosh Bottle Experiment,” remained on your platform and the steps you are taking to rid TikTok of such dangerous, destructive content.”
The full text of the letter can be found here.
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