issued by the companies aren’t enough. Multiple cities including Baltimore, Milwaukee and New York have filed or announced plans to join legal action against the automakers, which also are facing class-action and civil lawsuits from consumers like Neal. One such lawsuit was settled for roughlyThe National Highway and Safety Administration blames the trend for at least 14 crashes and eight fatalities, but lawyers suing the carmakers say the number is likely much higher.
“And the amazing thing is it’s not slowing down,” said Randy Shrewsberry, MLG chief strategy officer. In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson pushed back on assertions that many of the dangerous challenges mentioned in news reports had reached mass popularity on the platform. TikTok’s enforcement report from the last three months of 2022 showed 5% of the videos the company removed were due to dangerous acts and challenges, with 82% removed within 24 hours.
While the Kia Challenge is the social media crime trend of the moment, it’s not the first. And, experts say, it’s not indicative of social media creating a paradigm shift in criminal activity.