The Italian authorities called on the Chinese application “TikTok” , to block the accounts of all users of the application whose age has not been confirmed, after the death of a 10-year-old girl.
The Italian data privacy watchdog said in a statement, on Friday, that despite TikTok’s commitment to ban registering children under the age of 13, it was nevertheless easy to circumvent this rule.
As a result, TikTok said it had to block the accounts of users whose identities and ages had not been verified until at least February 15th, pending more information.
The request of the Italian authorities came due to the death of a girl from asphyxiation in Palermo, Sicily, in an accident that shook the country.
Her parents said she was participating in the so-called TikTok blackout challenge, where she put a belt around her neck and held her breath while photographing herself on her phone.
The prosecution has opened an investigation into possible suicide incitement and is seeking to find out if someone invite
d her to participate in the challenge.