美国国家公共电台 NPR--One mom takes on YouTube over deadly social media blackout challenge

One mom takes on YouTube over deadly social media blackout challenge

Transcript¹

Annie McGrath never had to worry too much about her 13-year-old son Griffin. He had good grades and lots of friends.

Griffin played baseball and the drums and had even won a national science competition. Because he was so interested in science and experiments, he spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos. That's where he and his friends saw something called the blackout challenge.

"We had heard of challenges," said McGrath, who lives in Madison, Wis. "But I never knew there were any that were deadly."

Social media challenges involve people recording² themselves doing something dramatic, funny or risky³. The videos often go viral. Some of these dares, however, can be dangerous. Like the blackout challenge, which is when someone holds their breath until they pass out.

That's what happened to Griffin one night in February 2018. He did the blackout challenge from his room, while FaceTiming with friends. Only he never woke up.

"I didn't know anything was wrong until it was too late," McGrath said, in an exclusive interview with NPR.

On Friday, she addressed YouTube's parent company Alphabet during an annual shareholder⁴ meeting calling for change and accountability.

Griffin is one of an estimated 1,385 people known to have died from the blackout challenge, according to a nonprofit called Erik's Cause, which was founded by Judy Rogg, whose son also died from a choking game. Tracking these numbers can be difficult. "Formal statistics are limited because no public health databases monitor these activities," states the nonprofit.

"That's just the tip of the iceberg," McGrath said. "The only ones we know of are the people that go to the news or find each other."

YouTube spokesperson Brittany Stagnaro told NPR that the company's policy is to remove videos that involve challenges with asphyxiation⁵ or choking. But, McGrath said she sees such videos and reports them daily. Often they're not taken down. She said some videos have remained on the site for years.

Pressuring those with a financial stake: shareholders⁶

McGrath, along with an advocacy group called Parents Together, is now pressuring the people who have a financial stake in YouTube to get the company to have more transparency around its protocols⁷ for these videos.

On Friday, McGrath urged Alphabet shareholders to vote for Resolution 15, which was filed by socially responsible investment firm Harrington Investments and advocacy group Ekō. This resolution proposed a third-party review of Alphabet's Audit⁸ Committee, which is tasked with assessing risk to the company, including how YouTube manages videos with harmful content.

In her speech, McGrath said Alphabet's "inaction" on these videos "should give investors⁹ pause" and that it demonstrates the company isn't appropriately avoiding legal risk, regulatory risk and human risk.

Glass Lewis, a leading proxy¹⁰ adviser¹¹ in this space, also backed the resolution. It shared its report with NPR, which said an independent evaluation¹² of Alphabet's Audit Committee could benefit shareholders.

The giant tech company, however, recommended investors vote against Resolution 15. In its opposing statement, it said that its Audit Committee has the "requisite¹³ experience, skill set, and protocols" to manage risk and that the resolution wouldn't be an "effective use of company resources or result in better direction or performance."

During the meeting on Friday, Alphabet's assistant secretary Kathryn Hall told McGrath "we are truly sorry for your loss" and that "keeping kids safe online is incredibly important to us." She said YouTube has removed millions of videos that violate its policies; and then she restated the company's opposing statement to the resolution.

McGrath's speech at the meeting was one of the first times a family member of a victim told their personal story at a shareholder event, said Zak Rogoff, who studies shareholder resolutions as a research manager for the nonprofit Ranking Digital Rights.

"The thing that's interesting about this is that shareholders have brought somebody who is personally affected¹⁴ by the problems the company is causing," Rogoff said.

Alphabet's shareholders ended up voting against Resolution 15.

Rogoff said these outside resolutions rarely pass because the shareholder voting structure typically gives more weight to votes from people who run the companies. "But if they get a high enough amount of support, sometimes companies will start to budge¹⁵ just out of caution," he said.

Parents try multiple pressure tactics to keep kids safe

Speaking to shareholders is just one of many tactics parents are now taking to keep kids safer online. McGrath and dozens more parents who say their kids have also died from other things they've seen on social media, like suicide from bullying¹⁶, disordered eating and drug use, have formed a group.

The parents are approaching the issue from all sides to put pressure on both lawmakers and the tech companies. They're in a class-action lawsuit¹⁷ against YouTube and TikTok and they've been lobbying Congress.

The pressure is working.

Last week, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a first-of-its-kind guidance saying social media can have a "profound risk" on the well-being¹⁸ of children and teens. And in the past six months, there's been a slew¹⁹ of bills introduced at the federal and state levels aimed at keeping kids safe online.

"It's low-hanging fruit for bipartisan support," said Zeve Sanderson, executive director of New York University's Center for Social Media and Politics. He said there's something visceral about hearing the stories of children who've been harmed and people can relate to it. "There's been a lot of appetite for policies that focus on social media."

For McGrath, she just wants to make sure no more kids are able to find a blackout challenge video.

"They're still kids and they're going to think, oh, well, they see it a bunch on YouTube and it's not scary, it's normalized," McGrath said. "It just breaks my heart over and over and over again. These are preventable deaths."

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

3 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

4 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

5 asphyxiation   

n. 窒息

参考例句：

• Objective Inquiry into the heavy asphyxiation rescues measure of the new born. 摘要目的探讨新生儿重度窒息抢救的措施。
• Self-contained breathing apparatus(SCBA) may be required to prevent asphyxiation of rescue personnel. 可能要求有自给式呼吸器(SCBA)，以防止救援人员窒息。

6 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

7 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

8 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

9 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

10 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

11 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

12 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

13 requisite   

adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品

参考例句：

• He hasn't got the requisite qualifications for the job.他不具备这工作所需的资格。
• Food and air are requisite for life.食物和空气是生命的必需品。

14 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

15 budge   

v.移动一点儿；改变立场

参考例句：

• We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来，但它连动都没动一下。
• She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。

16 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

18 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

19 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。