Mr Derrington said the blackout challenge pre-dated TikTok and the firm has "never found any evidence that the blackout challenge has been trending on the platform".
These families have filed a lawsuit against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, in the US, seeking access to their children's social media account data to "get answers" about the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
Ellen Roome, the mother of 14-year-old Jools, told the PA news agency that she had been trying to obtain her son's data from TikTok because she "just wants answers” She said the data was "the only piece we haven't looked at”.
The wrongful death lawsuit, filed in early February, claims the four children — Isaac Kenevan, 13; Archie Battersbee, 12; Julian “Jools” Sweeney, 14; and Maia Walsh, 13 — died after attempting the blackout challenge.
The blackout challenge — also known as the “pass-out challenge” or “choking game” — encourages individuals to film themselves intentionally hyperventilating or restricting their air supply until they pass out, often for social media.
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