UNITED STATES NEWS

FACT FOCUS: A story about a deadly TikTok boat-jumping challenge went viral. Then it fell apart

Jul 12, 2023, 3:01 PM

FILE - The TikTok app logo appears in Tokyo, on Sept. 28, 2020. News outlets are warning of a deadl...

FILE - The TikTok app logo appears in Tokyo, on Sept. 28, 2020. News outlets are warning of a deadly TikTok challenge that involves people jumping off speeding boats however, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency told The Associated Press it has investigated six boating and marine-related deaths this year and none were tied to TikTok trends. The social media company also said it has seen no such challenge on its platform. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

As the July 4 holiday approached, a local news report in Alabama warned of a deadly TikTok challenge that involved jumping from a speeding boat.

“Last six months we have had four drownings that were easily avoidable,” Jim Dennis, captain of the Childersburg Rescue Team, told the local ABC affiliate station in Birmingham, Alabama, in a story that aired July 3. “They were doing a TikTok challenge.”

National and international news outlets snapped up the report, cautioning about the trend. But Alabama’s main public safety agency says while there have been boating fatalities this year, no such deaths have been reported. A spokesperson for TikTok also says no boat jumping challenge is trending on its platform.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

CLAIM: Four people attempting a viral TikTok challenge have died jumping from moving boats in Alabama recently.

THE FACTS: The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, which oversees the state’s public safety agencies, tweeted on Monday to dispel the viral rumors.

The agency said its Marine Patrol Division had “no records of boating or marine-related deaths that could be directly linked to TikTok or a trend on TikTok.”

It noted that one person was fatally injured after jumping from a moving boat in 2020 and a similar case happened in 2021, but that neither death was linked to TikTok.

In a follow up email to The Associated Press, the agency provided details about six water-related deaths marine patrol investigated so far this year. None of the incident reports mentions TikTok or any such challenge.

On July 8, for example, a 79-year-old man drowned after falling off his boat without a life vest while fishing overnight on a river. A day earlier, a 65-year-old man drowned after he got off a pontoon boat to help a dog in a lake.

The other fatalities included a 19-year-old who crashed his jet ski into a tree in May and a man who apparently drowned in January after the vessel he was on struck a bridge and capsized.

People magazine, the New York Post and a number of other major outlets that initially reported on the TikTok challenge deaths have since updated their stories to include the state’s response.

But social media users, in English and in Spanish, are still sharing the claims as accurate. Some even include videos purporting to show the victims.

“Police say at least 4 people have died doing the TikTok boat jumping challenge,” wrote one Twitter user in a widely shared post that included various video clips of people diving off moving boats. “When they jumped out of the boat, they literally broke their neck … instant death.”

Meanwhile Dennis, the local first responder quoted in the original story, walked back his comments after state officials weighed in this week.

He told AL.com, another local news outlet in Alabama, that his remarks during an interview about boating safety were taken out of context, but he maintained that his organization has responded to reports of people who jumped off boats this year.

“It got blown way out of proportion,” said Dennis, who didn’t respond to requests for additional comment this week.

The ABC affiliate in Birmingham also declined to comment, but in a story Monday about the state’s response, the station included Dennis’ full, unedited interview.

Ben Rathe, a spokesperson for TikTok, stressed “boat jumping” has never trended on platform, echoing a statement the company’s office in Mexico City previously provided in Spanish.

TikTok also said it does not comment on things that are “not part (of the platform) / are not trending on the platform.”

Like other social media companies, TikTok has seen any number of “challenges” go viral over the years, from the deadly.

Elizabeth Losh, an American Studies professor at William & Mary, a university in Williamsburg, Virginia, who has studied TikTok trends, confirmed some posts featuring people jumping off boats are visible on the site — including one from 2019 with the hashtag #boatjumpchallenge — but don’t appear to be particularly viral or widespread.

She also noted TikTok has placed warning labels over some of the posts.

The social network’s community guidelines prohibit users from showing or promoting “ dangerous activities and challenges,” which includes “dares, games, tricks, inappropriate use of dangerous tools, eating substances that are harmful to one’s health, or similar activities that may lead to significant physical harm.”

___

Ramirez reported from Mexico City. Associated Press reporter Karena Phan in Los Angeles also contributed to this story.

___

This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.

United States News

Associated Press

The police chief who led a raid of a small Kansas newspaper has been suspended

The police chief who led a highly criticized raid of a small Kansas newspaper has been suspended, the mayor confirmed to The Associated Press on Saturday. Marion Mayor Dave Mayfield in a text said he suspended Chief Gideon Cody on Thursday. He declined to discuss his decision further and did not say whether Cody was […]

33 minutes ago

Associated Press

Federal agency sues Chipotle after a Kansas manager allegedly ripped off an employee’s hijab

A federal agency has sued the restaurant chain Chipotle, accusing it of religious harassment and retaliation after a manager at a Kansas location forcibly removed an employee’s hijab, a headscarf worn by some Muslim women. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged that in 2021, an assistant manager at a Chipotle […]

2 hours ago

(AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS...

Associated Press

On the brink of a federal shutdown, the House passes a 45-day funding plan and sends it to Senate

On the brink of a federal government shutdown, the House on Saturday swiftly approved a 45-day funding bill to keep federal agencies open as Speaker Kevin McCarthy dropped demands for steep spending cuts and relied on Democratic votes for passage to send the package to the Senate.

2 hours ago

Associated Press

Virginia ex-superintendent convicted of misdemeanor in firing of teacher

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia jury has convicted a former schools superintendent on a misdemeanor charge in connection with what prosecutors said was the retaliatory firing of a teacher who reported that an elementary school student inappropriately touched her. Former Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Ziegler was acquitted on a separate misdemeanor count […]

2 hours ago

Doris Peters calls voters during a phone bank event Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, at the Republican Par...

Associated Press

Anti-abortion groups are at odds on strategies ahead of Ohio vote. It could be a preview for 2024

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Abortion opponents in Ohio are at odds not only over how to frame their opposition to a reproductive rights initiative on the state’s November ballot but also over their longer-term goals on how severely they would restrict the procedure. The disagreements, roiling the anti-abortion side just six weeks before Election Day, […]

6 hours ago

Joe Heath, general counsel for the Onondaga Nation, walks into the Nation's Longhouse for a meeting...

Associated Press

Rejected by US courts, Onondaga Nation take centuries-old land rights case to international panel

ONONDAGA NATION TERRITORY (AP) — The Onondaga Nation has protested for centuries that illegal land grabs shrank its territory from what was once thousands of square miles in upstate New York to a relatively paltry patch of land south of Syracuse. It took its case to President George Washington, to Congress and, more recently, to […]

7 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

SCHWARTZ LASER EYE CENTER

Key dates for Arizona sports fans to look forward to this fall

Fall brings new beginnings in different ways for Arizona’s professional sports teams like the Cardinals and Coyotes.

...

Ignite Digital

How to unlock the power of digital marketing for Phoenix businesses

All businesses around the Valley hopes to maximize their ROI with current customers and secure a greater market share in the digital sphere.

...

Ability360

At Ability360, every day is Independence Day

With 100 different programs and services, more than 1,500 non-medically based home care staff, a world-renowned Sports & Fitness Center and over 15,000 people with disabilities served annually, across all ages and demographics, Ability360 is a nationwide leader in the disability community.

FACT FOCUS: A story about a deadly TikTok boat-jumping challenge went viral. Then it fell apart