In July, police attributed the death of a child to the challenge, which they said was a TikTok trend. Some also place the magnets on their nose to create the look of a nose. There was also the 'blackout challenge,' which involved people choking themselves until they passed out for a few seconds. The magnet challenge has seen users place small metal magnetic balls on their tongue to create the look of a tongue piercing. Rumors about the alleged magnet trend follow other purported social media trends that stoke fear online but aren't truly connected to mainstream social media platforms.

'Small magnet balls have been wreaking havoc on the health of children for years,' Hes, the pediatrician, told Insider. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which tracks the safety of consumer products, warned against children and teens placing magnetic balls in their mouths to make fake piercings in a report in 2012 - years before TikTok existed. The magnet-swallowing trend has existed for years A mother of a 6-year-old who was hospitalized in September after ingesting 23 magnets told the BBC that her daughter was trying to imitate tongue piercings she had seen in TikTok videos.Īnother mother, whose 9-year-old son had to undergo major surgery in September that reportedly resulted in him losing his small bowel, appendix, and a big portion of his large bowel, blamed a TikTok challenge as well, telling the BBC that while he did not have a TikTok account, he had seen videos shared from the tiktok trends #learnontiktok #schoolwithdrkaran #NeverJustAGame #piercing ♬ Moonlight Sonata: Adagio Sostenuto - Beethoven Master Magnetics manufactures and distributes powerful neodymium magnets, ceramic magnets, flexible magnetic sheeting and magnetic devices for industrial. Many outlets and parents have called it a TikTok trendĭespite the apparent lack of evidence, several parents have claimed in news reports that their children were inspired to put magnets into their mouths because of a TikTok craze.Ī mother of an 11-year-old who was hospitalized in May for swallowing five magnetic balls blamed a 'TikTok craze,' the Daily Mail reported. The purported TikTok challenge involves video creators placing magnetic balls at the top and bottom of their mouths so that they pull toward each other and look like fake tongue piercings, according to Today and other outlets. Dyan Hes, a New York City pediatrician, told Insider that magnetic balls have been 'wreaking havoc' on children's health for years.

Magnet challenge