TikTok used location tracking to send “railroad themed suicide videos” to a Long Island teen living near a commuter train track before he tragically killed himself by walking in front of a train, court papers claim.
The parents of Chase Nasca, 16, of Bayport having been seeking to hold the social-media giant and its parent company ByteDance responsible for their son’s suicide in 2022, arguing its addictive algorithms bombarded him with thousands of suicide-related videos before his death.
TikTok allegedly used location data to tailor suicide videos to the fact Chase Nasca, 16, of Long Island lived by a train track. Courtesy Nasca familyThe China-owned platform actually went so far as to tailor the morbid videos around the fact that Chase lived close to the Long Island Rail Road — even though the promising high-school soccer player had only started out seeking “uplifting and motivational” videos, according to a filing Feb. 5 opposing TikTok’s bid to get the suit thrown out.
“Some of the videos [TikTok] directed to Chase, who lived a quarter mile from the LIRR tracks, encouraged young people to end their lives by stepping in front of a moving train,” the court documents say. “This was no coincidence.”
Chase’s parents, Dean and Michelle Nasca, are in the process of suing TikTok, claiming the app exposed him to thousands of suicide-related videos before he ultimately killed himself. Dennis A. Clark
In fact, TikTok has copped to the fact that it monitors user location data to send people “relevant” content, the filing says.
“TikTok used Chase’s geolocating data to send him … railroad themed suicide videos both before and after his death,” the court papers claim.
In December, TikTok filed a routine motion to dismiss the case filed by parents Dean and Michelle Nasca in 2023 on the grounds that content on the app is “protected speech” covered by the First Amendment. It also argued that product liability laws couldn’t be brought against it since it doesn’t provide a “tangible” product, Newsday first reported.
TikTok in December filed a motion to dismiss the Nascas’ case. REUTERSBut the Nasca filing argues that neither defense should let the social media behemoth off the hook in their son’s case.
TikTok “owed a duty of care to protect Chase Nasca from foreseeable injuries arising out of the normal and anticipated use of their social media products,” the court documents claim.
The app was designed to “maximize” Chase’s “engagement through a progression of extreme videos which exploited his underdeveloped neurology and emotional insecurity,” the filing charges.
His death was part of “intentional design decisions” by the company, the court papers claim.
The teenager — who was a junior at Bayport-Blue Point High School and was accepted into an Olympic Development Program for soccer — had been a well-adjusted kid who was merely looking for “uplifting and motivational” videos when the app instead steered “thousands of suicidal videos into his ‘for you’ page,” the filing alleges.
Congress had passed a law last year — which former President Joe Biden signed off on — to ban TikTok from the US unless it was sold off to an American company. President Trump then threw the app a lifeline by postponing the ban for 75 days to allow time for a sale to go through.
The app has until April 5 to reach a deal.
TikTok did not return a Post request for comment Tuesday.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
