Four people in Alabama have been reported dead after engaging in a risky social media trend involving leaping off moving boats and into the water, according to officials.
According to Captain Jim Dennis of Childersburg Rescue Squad, when the four individuals jumped out of the boat they broke their necks, which resulted in instant death,
Although videos of people jumping out of moving boats have been circulating since 2020, the challenge has gained more popularity as people take to the water during the summer.
With these challenges, “You can wind up with broken bones, a broken neck, or you could end up running into the propeller of your own boat or another boat could run over you, and that would cause lots of damage if not death,” cautioned Gail Kulp, the executive director of the Sea Tow Foundation.
Kulp, who is dedicated to educating boaters and preventing recreational accidents on the water, described the stunt as “really, really dangerous.”
She further explained, “Hitting the water from a moving boat is like hitting concrete from jumping multiple stories up.”
Experts added that wearing a life jacket would not suffice to prevent serious injuries or death, and the only way to ensure safety is to abstain from attempting the stunt altogether.
Responding to the matter, TikTok informed NBC News that warnings have been added to certain videos, indicating that “participating in this activity could result in you or others getting hurt.”
TikTok clarified in a statement, “It’s not accurate to characterize or report this as a TikTok challenge,” adding that they “can’t comment on something that isn’t a trend on our platform.”
Other social media challenges, such as the “skull breaker challenge,” which caused an individual to require surgery, and the “salt and ice challenge,” resulting in second-degree burns for some users, have also caused harm or loss of life.
When questioned about these challenges, TikTok responded that their guidelines explicitly prohibit displaying or promoting dangerous activities and challenges. The guidelines also encourage users to pause and consider the consequences before engaging in risky behavior.
TikTok, boasting more than 150 million users in the United States, is entirely owned by the Chinese tech company, ByteDance Ltd. The Beijing-based firm, registered in the Cayman Islands like many other privately held Chinese enterprises, is responsible for selecting its executive leadership.
TikTok’s Terms of Service states: “We accept no liability in respect of any content submitted by users and published by us or by authorised third parties.”