The Italian body in charge of the protection of personal data ordered to block until February 15 the operation of the social network Tik Tok in cases where the age of the users cannot be proven “with certainty”, after the death of a girl age 10 during a challenge proposed by the firm that is being investigated as “instigation to suicide.”
The minor was from the city of Palermo, the government accuses the application of “instigation to suicide.”
“The guarantor for the protection of personal data ordered in relation to Tik Tok the immediate blocking of the use of user data for whom the anagraphic age is not proven with certainty,” said the body made up of members of the Parliament responsible for the protection of online data in Italy.
The decision of the official body comes a day after a 10-year-old Italian girl died of suffocation in the southern Italian city of Palermo of the Sicily region while carrying out a viral challenge proposed by the social network TikTok.
After the girl’s death, the Palermo prosecutor’s office investigates an alleged “instigation to suicide ” as the cause of death.
Earlier, the Indian government banned TikTok and many other Chinese apps in India. Many Indians lost their jobs during the COVID pandemic and TikTok was the only way for their livelihood.
