TikTok has begun to ban videos showing the newly popular so-called “milk crate challenge” in which a person dangerously attempts to ascend and descend stairs made of stacks of plastic milk crates.
“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 TikTok spokesperson said Saturday.
“We encourage everyone to exercise caution in their behavior whether online or off,” the TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.
Searches on TikTok for “milk crate challenge” and related terms now return zero results.
“This phrase may be associated with behavior or content that violates our guidelines,” says a note displayed in place of any search results. “Promoting a safe and positive experience is TikTok’s top priority.”
Videos depicting people attempting the milk crate challenge recently became extremely popular on social media services including TikTok and others, with some clips being viewed or shared millions of times.
In the videos, the person attempting to walk up or down the milk crates usually falls, often from a height of several feet and resulting in them landing painfully on any of the numerous rigid containers.
“I’m seeing patients in the ER with head injuries from this TikTok challenge,” Charlotte Corke, an intensive care unit nurse in Minneapolis, recently told USA TODAY, the publication reported Friday.
“You can open up a textbook, and all injuries are on the table,” added Dr. Rajwinder Deu, a professor of orthopedic surgery at John Hopkins University, the newspaper reported in another article recently.
Footage of users attempting the stunt could still easily be found on other platforms Saturday. It was not immediately clear if or when any other major online services would follow TikTok’s lead.
