The case is paradigmatic because it may represent, in a certain way, a chink in the armor of digital platforms.
One of the incidents that resulted in death was that of Nylah Anderson, who accidentally hanged herself after watching videos of the blackout challenge. According to the opinion of the court responsible for judging the case, if Anderson had sought the challenge within TikTok instead of having the content suggested to her, then the platform could be seen more as a mere repository of third-party publications.
In this specific case, the judges stated that the algorithm that chooses what appears on a user's account decides what will be presented and what will not. Therefore, the algorithm, responsible for recommending the blackout challenge to Nylah Anderson, is covered within TikTok's own activity, and does not fall under section 230.