TikTok bans 'dangerous' trend over fears of serious injuries

TikTok has banned a “dangerous” challenge amid fears it is leaving people with injuries.

The milk crate challenge, which involves people walking up milk crates in a pyramid formation for some reason, has gained traction on TikTok with many attempting it.

But it’s led to a swathe of injuries from people falling off the unsteady structures, to the point TikTok has now banned the challenge. Searching for it on the platform now leads to no search results.

“TikTok prohibits content that promotes or glorifies dangerous acts, and we remove videos and redirect searches to our community guidelines to discourage such content,” a spokesperson told The Guardian.

“We encourage everyone to exercise caution in their behaviour whether online or offline.”

While it might seem like harmless fun, doctors have warned injuries caused by tumbling off the crates could last a lifetime.

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There are also concerns hospitals, particularly in the US, are struggling with Covid-19 at the moment and may struggle to treat people with the injuries.

Baltimore City Health, in the US state of Maryland, tweeted people should check-in with their local hospital before attempting the milk crate challenge “to see if they have a bed available for you”.

Vonda Wright, an orthopaedic surgeon based in Atlanta, Georgia, told NBC News the challenge “is probably the one that I’ve seen that has the highest potential for bodily injury that will take people out not just of their daily lives, but could have lifelong implications”.

Among the injuries people could suffer include concussion, torn ACLs and arm fractures, Dr Wright said.

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