Trying to survive these days is tough enough amidst a still-surging pandemic, which apparently is why TikTok has decided to deplatform one of its most dangerous viral stunts.
Friday brought word that the wildly popular social media platform was making it much harder to see one of its most popular trends in recent days: the “milk crate challenge.” The challenge, which became a phenomenon if you knew where to find 15 milk crates, became a viral hit as people tried to climb over crates stacked up on top of each other without falling. The result of this challenge was fine for some with excellent balance and a bit of patience. But often the most popular videos were of people falling off, sometimes to catastrophic effects.
Commenting on the challenge and its viral popularity became a meme in its own right on other platforms like Twitter, but as doctors and other medical officials started to condemn the craze the pressure was put on TikTok to actually ban the hashtag to limit its popularity online. And by Friday, the company had made the move to do exactly that.
As CNN notes, searching the platform for the challenge’s hashtag now comes up empty.
TikTok has deleted search results for the hashtag “milk crate challenge” and explained in a statement that the challenge was publicizing a dangerous activity.
“TikTok prohibits content that promotes or glorifies dangerous acts, and we remove videos and redirect searches to our Community Guidelines to discourage such content,” a spokesperson said. “We encourage everyone to exercise caution in their behavior whether online or off.”
Some searches for “milk crate challenge” had “no results found” come up, with a note that indicated “this phrase may be associated with behavior or content that violates our guidelines.” Because, well, now it does.
You can find a bunch of these compilations on YouTube, if you’re still looking for some action. But maybe it’s best everyone stops trying something that could put you in the hospital, there aren’t nearly as many beds available nationwide as the popularity of a stunt like this may indicate.
Source: https://uproxx.com/viral/tiktok-banned-milk-crate-challenge-injury-concerns/