A mother in New York is continuing her lawsuit against Meta and TikTok companies in connection with the death of her 15-year-old son who died while attempting the popular “Subway Surfing” challenge on social media platforms. The New York State Supreme Court judge on Tuesday (July 1) rejected motions to dismiss the case brought by these two social media giants.
According to a report by Ars Technica, Judge Paul Goetz of the New York State Supreme Court allowed the plaintiff, Norma Nazario, to proceed with her wrongful death lawsuit against Meta and TikTok companies.
Nazario accuses these social media platforms of deliberately pushing dangerous “Subway Surfing” videos to her son, Zackery Nazario, ultimately leading to his tragic death.
Reported by Breitbart News, the incident occurred on February 20, 2024 when Zackery was on top of a J train subway car headed to Brooklyn, attempting to complete the highly popular “Subway Surfing” challenge on social media platforms.
Tragedy struck when Zackery unlocked the door of the subway car, climbed onto the moving train’s roof, and as the train passed over the Williamsburg Bridge, he turned to look at his girlfriend, hitting his head on a low beam, and subsequently falling from the roof into the gap between cars, ultimately being run over by the train.
According to Cybernews, after Zackery’s death, his mother Nazario discovered multiple videos related to the “Subway Surfing” challenge on his social media account.
Shortly after, she filed a lawsuit against social media and short video platforms like Meta and TikTok, alleging that their algorithms not only failed to restrict such content but instead, through recommendation mechanisms, led her 15-year-old son into addiction to such risky content.
Judge Goetz rejected the dismissal motions filed by Meta and TikTok under Section 230 and the First Amendment of the Communications Decency Act on Tuesday.
The judge stated that the plaintiff Nazario’s allegations were sufficient, claiming that the “Subway Surfing” videos were “specifically pushed” to Zackery due to his age, rather than his expression of interest in such content.
In response to the judge’s ruling, a Meta spokesperson told Breitbart News, “We are disappointed with this decision, but it is not about the substance of the case. The ‘Subway Surfing’ challenge has been a long-standing issue for transportation departments for decades. Videos that encourage such risky behavior violate our policies and are promptly removed once identified. We will continue to work with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to address this issue and actively defend against this lawsuit.”