International
Venezuela govt slaps $10m fine on TikTok after viral challenge led to death of 3 adolescents
The government of Venezuela, led by President Nicolas Maduro, has slammed a $10 million fine on ByteDance-owned TikTok after a viral challenge on the platform led to the deaths of three adolescents.
On Monday, December 30, Judge Tania D’Amelio of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice declared that TikTok had not taken the “necessary and adequate measures” to stop the dissemination of damaging content that promoted the challenges.
In order to avoid more “appropriate” actions from authorities, the court has mandated that TikTok open an office in Venezuela and pay the fee within eight days.
According to D’Amelio, the money would be used to establish a TikTok victims fund that will address the physical, psychological, and emotional trauma inflicted on users, especially kids and teenagers.
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The court ruling comes days after the government of Albania blocked TikTok for one year, citing its influence on growing youth violence in the country.
The Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, who ordered the one-year ban, said that social media, especially TikTok, is fostering increasing violence among youth in the country.
“TikTok will not exist in the Republic of Albania,” said Rama. “TikTok is the thug of the neighborhood. We are going to chase this thug out of our neighborhood for one year.”
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