Liability for Social Media Stunts & Challenges

Social media challenges aren’t new. While no one can pinpoint exactly the “first” social media challenge, most people’s earliest memory of these videos is the “Ice Bucket Challenge,” which debuted in 2014. The Ice Bucket Challenge was set into motion by the ALS Association, which is a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise awareness and funding for research to combat Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which is more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

The Ice Bucket Challenge involved participants dumping a bucket of ice-cold water over their heads, purportedly as a stunt to make a donation to ALS research, and then “tag” a friend to do the same.

The Ice Bucket Challenge was as wholesome as it was creative and profitable. However, social media challenges today can be significantly less wholesome—and more dangerous—than the challenges of yore. 

Today, we’re seeing a pattern of social media challenges that involve a livestream (the transmission of video or audio content over the internet in real-time) in which the participant undertakes a challenge that presents the risk of some type of physical injury, or even death. 

Inevitably, these challenges do cause severe injuries or deaths. And when that happens, who’s to blame? Can the injured person or the survivors of a deceased victim file a lawsuit? If so, against whom? 

Let’s take a look at the legal liability behind social media challenges that lead to disastrous results.

No one can predict what the next trendy social media stunt will be. We’ve seen tons of harmless, fun social media trends—the “flossing” dance, filters that give people bunny ears or puppy noses, filters that make us look like our celebrity doppelgänger, and more. These are cute and generally don’t result in anyone being injured. 

But the more brazen social media users like to post content for shock value, and maybe the lure of 15 minutes of social media fame, so to speak. 

These are a couple of memorable social media challenges that were far from harmless; instead, they resulted in serious injuries to the participants or others. However, the trends listed below are just a sampling of a neverending list of harebrained social media grasps for fame and fortune.

Subway surfing

In 2024, six New York City children died after riding on top of moving subway cars while being recorded for social media likes. One victim was 11 years old. Even though authorities are actively removing these videos from social media platforms—in the thousands—kids continue to perform this stunt, even though injuries and deaths from fast-moving trains, electrified tracks, and unstable footing are undeniable dangers.

Hot water challenge

In this challenge, participants pour scalding water on themselves. This can result in severe burns or even long-term skin damage. In a recent incident, a 12-year-old Pennsylvania boy poured boiling water over his 9-year-old brother, resulting in hospitalization and criminal charges. This trend has resulted in other serious injuries and at least one death.

Door-kicking challenge

This disturbing trend involves participants who kick strangers’ doors to film their reactions. This results in vandalism, the potential for violent confrontations, and resulting injuries. Officials in several states have issued warnings about this trend and emphasized the legal consequences for participants.

Benadryl challenge

Benadryl (generic: diphenhydramine) is an over-the-counter medication typically used to treat allergy symptoms. Overdose can result in psychosis, organ damage, seizures, coma, or death. Some individuals have been “challenged” by social media to take excessive amounts of Benadryl in order to induce and film hallucinations for entertainment reasons. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and TikTok have repeatedly cautioned against this practice. This challenge has been linked to ER visits for teenagers and at least one reported death.

Milk crate challenge

TikTok has since blocked videos of this trend that involves climbing a tower of stacked milk crates after hospitals reporting a spike in falls that led to broken bones, ligament tears, dislocations, and spinal injuries.

Cinnamon challenge

Inhaling cinnamon powder can cause coughing, gagging, pneumonia, or a collapsed lung—but this is what participants were doing during this trend. Participants would try to swallow a spoonful of cinnamon in fewer than 60 seconds without drinking water. Numerous hospital visits were reported based on this challenge.

One chip challenge

In 2023, a 14-year-old Massachusetts teenager died within hours of performing this challenge, which is eating an extremely spicy Carolina Reaper chip and going without water. Typically, this results in intense pain and vomiting, and more occasionally, death.

The Nicki Minaj stiletto challenge

This viral TikTok trend involves users recreating a specific pose from rapper Nicki Minaj’s “High School” music video. This pose is a single-legged squat, while crossing the legs and balancing in stiletto heels. The trend evolved to include the pose while balanced precariously on various objects.

In August 2025, influencer and “mommy blogger” Mariana Barutkina attempted this challenge—with a disastrous result. Barutkina was just a couple of weeks postpartum (she had just given birth) and tried to balance on a kitchen saucepan and a canister of baby formula stacked on her kitchen counter, wearing stilettos and striking the pose. She balanced for a couple of moments, then toppled and fell backwards off her countertop. As a result, the influencer suffered a medical emergency involving a fracture of her spine with Th9 compression bending.

Why do people participate in these challenges?

Participants—who tend to be teens and young adults—engage in dangerous stunts for a variety of psychological and social reasons.

• Social validation and peer pressure. Many of these individuals are motivated by likes, shares, and followers. When they see their peers or influencers attempt these challenges, it creates social pressure to join in. 
• Thrill-seeking and risk-taking. Adolescents are biologically more inclined toward risk-taking behavior due to brain development (reward centers mature faster than impulse control). These dangerous stunts feel like a way to test their limits or show bravery. 
• Amplifying algorithms. Social media platforms reward shocking, extreme, and highly visual content with higher visibility. The more dangerous or outrageous the act, the more likely it is to go viral—encouraging copycats.
• FOMO (the “fear of missing out”) drives teens who don’t want to feel like they’re left behind on the trends. Even if they know it’s dangerous, a teen’s fear of social exclusion can push them to participate. 
• Influencers and celebrities. When popular creators, athletes, or celebrities participate—even jokingly—it legitimizes the challenge. These people are role models (even if perhaps they shouldn’t be) and kids tend to downplay the risks because these influencers make it seem harmless and fun. 
• Psychological vulnerability. Some challenges target those struggling with loneliness, depression, or low self-esteem. There have even been “suicide challenges” where teens, in particular, encourage each other to engage in self-harm.

These challenges thrive on a perfect storm of adolescent development and psychology, peer culture, and platform incentives. The risks are clear, but the social rewards feel immediate and the dangers seem distant.

When injuries happen during a livestream or because of viral challenges, potential defendants can include the creator, co-hosts or event organizers, venue or property owner, sponsors or brands, and sometimes the platform—but platform liability is difficult and hinges on product-design theories rather than user content.

Here are some potential defendants in these types of claims:

The influencer (streamer) and their staff

As a casual social media user, you might not realize that the influencer you follow, who’s making videos in their kitchen or at a store or restaurant, actually has a team behind them that’s making the “magic” happen. 

Small influencers (with fewer than 100,000 followers) might work alone or with part-time help from a friend, partner, or freelance video editor. A midsize influencer (100,000-1 million followers) typically employs between one and five support staff to manage editing, brand deals and scheduling. Large influencers and celebrities (who have more than a million followers on multiple platforms) might have five to 20 staff, or even a full “mini-agency” that covers production, business, and legal matters. 

An influencer’s legal or compliance staffer would draft and review contracts, protect their intellectual property, advise on liability for stunts or challenges, and make sure their sponsorships and disclosures follow FTC and FCC guidelines. 

A creator can face ordinary negligence (encouraging risky behavior, failing to control a crowd), gross negligence, or negligent undertaking (taking on safety tasks and doing them carelessly) liability. For instance, pop-up meetups or giveaways that spark crowd surges could lead to civil lawsuits for inadequate planning, permitting, and safety measures.

An example of creator negligence: The creator stages a rooftop parkour livestream and invites fans to participate. There is no safety plan and a participant falls and is injured. The victim could file a lawsuit against the creator for negligent planning, failure to warn, and other negligent action.

2. Co-hosts, event promoters and venues

Promoters, security contractors, and property owners can be liable under premises liability and negligent crowd management if they invite the public without reasonable safety controls (capacity, barriers, egress routes, staffing). This mirrors traditional concert/crowd-crush litigation, even when the “draw” is a livestreamed event.

In other words, a collaborator—or anyone who helps plan or execute the risky stunt—could share fault with the content creator. The owner or manager of the venue could face premises liability claims for unsafe conditions or foreseeable crowd hazards like inadequate barriers, exits, security, etc.

3. Sponsors and brand partners

If a sponsor co-designs, pressures, or profits from a stunt and has a role in planning or approving risky elements, the plaintiff might argue joint venture or negligent promotion theories.

4. Social media platform

This is the most difficult defendant to recover from as an injured victim. 47 U.S.C. § 230, also known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), provides limited immunity from liability for “interactive computer services” (ICS) for third-party content posted by users, and also protects their good-faith efforts to screen or remove objectionable material. This protects online platforms from being sued as publishers of user-generated content, but does not prevent liability for content they create themselves or for violating certain federal laws.

• A platform is not liable as a “publisher” or “speaker” of content posted by a user. 
• As of this writing, the courts have not resolved whether algorithmic recommendations are subject to this section of the CDA.

• If the defendant is a social media platform, it will likely rely on § 230 immunity under the CDA. 
• Assumption of risk and comparative fault defenses—that the participant willingly accepted the risk—are typical in these types of lawsuits. 
• Some states have anti-SLAPP laws. SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. These are filed to intimidate or silence people who wish to use their First Amendment rights to free speech and petition to protect individuals and organizations from frivolous lawsuits.

The bottom line is that “livestream liability” isn’t one case type; it’s a bundle of traditional tort theories applied to new facts. Claims against creators, organizers, and venues look like classic negligence, but claims against platforms are evolving—design defect and failure to warn can be successful, but not always.

Social media challenges might seem like fun, but many cross a dangerous line—leading to real harm. These have resulted in injuries, hospital stays, and even deaths. It’s crucial for parents, educators, and platform policymakers to stay alert and discourage this harmful behavior.