Venezuela’s Supreme Court has fined the overseas version of Chinese social media app TikTok, owned by ByteDance, with a $10 million penalty. The reason behind this decision is the series of deadly challenges that have emerged on the platform in recent months, resulting in the deaths of three children and injuries to dozens more.
In a ruling issued on Monday, the court ordered TikTok to pay the fine to the country’s telecommunications authority within the next ten days. Additionally, the court mandated TikTok to establish an office in Venezuela.
Last month, the court summoned representatives from TikTok to testify regarding the deaths of three children aged 12, 13, and 14. These children lost their lives due to participating in deadly challenges on TikTok, which involved the ingestion, inhalation, or dissemination of “dangerous mixtures” and other chemical substances.
The judge pointed out that TikTok should bear shared responsibility for the deadly challenge activities on its platform because the company failed to promptly and effectively control the spread of such content.
Furthermore, the judge stated that the proceeds from the fine would be used to establish a compensation fund for the victims.
As of now, TikTok has not immediately responded to requests for comments from Bloomberg.
This article is based on the report from Bloomberg.