TikTok warned users that it will ban 'milk crate' challenge videos from its platform after a reported increase of injuries sustained by people participating in the viral trend.
The challenge — which consists of walking up and down an unsecured pyramid made out of milk crates, often resulting in an awkward and calamitous fall - became popular on social media platforms earlier in August.
In a statement to Dailymail.com on Wednesday, a TikTok representative said the app 'prohibits content that promotes or glorifies dangerous acts, and we remove videos and redirect searches to our Community Guidelines to discourage such content.'
'We encourage everyone to exercise caution in their behavior whether online or off,' the spokesperson adds, while also confirming that tags will also be removed.
The Milk Crate Challenge involves people climbing up and down an unsecured pyramid made out of milk crates, which often ends in a fall
People doing this like they have the best health insurance... pic.twitter.com/6znbsi8h0a
— Mike 🇺🇸 (@ogmike) August 21, 2021
People doing this like they have the best health insurance... pic.twitter.com/6znbsi8h0a
As the COVID delta variant continues to spread across the U.S. leaving some hospitals overwhelmed, the 'milk crate' challenge has prompted health officials to issue warnings, asking people to think twice before attempting the trick.
'With COVID-19 hospitalizations rising around the country, please check with your local hospital to see if they have a bed available for you, before attempting the #milkcratechallenge,' the Baltimore City Health Department tweeted on Monday.
Comedian Conan O'Brien joked online saying he was waiting for the FDA to approve the trend before trying it out.
Instead, the agency tweeted: 'Although we regulate milk, we can't recommend you try that. Perhaps enjoy a nice glass of 2% and return all those crates to the grocery store?'
Comedian Conan O’Brien joked how he needed federal officials to give the challenge the okay before he went ahead with it — a nod to the Food and Drug Administration granting full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on Monday
Some other celebrities and media personalities also have questioned the latest viral challenge.
ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith joked Monday that the videos imposed a greater risk of public health than the coronavirus.
'I challenge anybody — anybody on Earth — to find people dumber than these people,' exclaimed Smith, who was a guest host on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!'
'What is wrong with these people? First, you drink the milk from the crates to get strong bones — then you fall off the crates to break them?!'
Rapper Snoop Dogg also voiced his concern over the popular videos of the challenge, showing black people falling from the crates and injuring themselves.
'Why we love to see each other fall?' he wrote on Instagram with a face-palm emoji. 'We got 2 to do better.'
A crowd gathers around a person attempting the 'milk crate' challenge in Atlanta, Georgia on August 22
A man starts to tumble as he tries to walk down the pyramid of crates in front of a crowd in Atlanta, Georgia on August 22
BROKE HIS NECK #CrateChallenge pic.twitter.com/RvB1gMOyAH
— 🅱️R🅰️ND🅾️ (@iTweetBrando) August 22, 2021
BROKE HIS NECK #CrateChallenge pic.twitter.com/RvB1gMOyAH
He later joked with Smith about one video in which a person is shown landing chest-first onto a crate.
'When they starting to shake, you know it is going to break,' he said of the man filmed in the video. 'His new name is Chesta because his chest-a hurt tomorrow.'
Some emergency rooms and hospitals are already seeing injuries related to the milk crate challenge.
According to WSB-TV, an Atlanta-based health official saw on Sunday at least two individuals break or fracture bones after falling of the crates.
A woman from Dallas, Texas, hit the news after she attempted the Crate Challenge and was left severely injured
A viral video shows the moment she fell from a stack of milk crates onto hard concrete outside a gas station in Dallas, Texas
The person filming the video claims she was 'bleeding from the head' and onto the pavement from a great height
A rumor flooded Twitter claiming that a woman from Dallas, Texas, had died after painfully falling from a block of crates on concrete outside a gas station. Local sheriff confirmed she was hurt but alive.
The woman, whose name is unknown, has reportedly not died, but is severely injured and in a critical condition.
On Twitter, an orthopedic surgeon in Fairfax, Virginia, shared an example of the challenge going wrong, saying that 'surgeries required to fix problems caused by this may fall under the umbrella of "elective surgeries."'
A few videos have highlighted people who were able to conquer the milk crate challenge without falling over.
One woman successfully climbed a pyramid while wearing heels.
Pictured: A woman's successful attempt to do the challenge went viral after she did it in HEELS
Shorty raised the stakes pic.twitter.com/z3sVh3Wh7H
— Dee Goodz (@dee_goodz) August 23, 2021
Shorty raised the stakes pic.twitter.com/z3sVh3Wh7H
The Know Your Meme website claims the challenge drew inspiration from a June 2011 video titled 'Guy Falls Off 6 Milk Crates.'
On August 1, videos shared on Facebook by a Chicago resident showed two men trying to walk over the pyramid of milk crates. It is considered the first video of the now popular milk crate challenge.
The origin of the milk crate challenge remains unclear, but the website Know Your Meme believes a June 2011 video titled 'Guy Falls Off 6 Milk Crates' as an inspiration for the latest challenge.
The origin of the Milk Crate Challenge remains unclear, but the website Know Your Meme believes a June 2011 video titled 'Guy Falls Off 6 Milk Crates' as an inspiration for the latest challenge.
The origin of the Milk Crate Challenge remains unclear, but the website Know Your Meme believes a June 2011 video titled 'Guy Falls Off 6 Milk Crates' as an inspiration for the latest challenge.
Two weeks later, the challenge gained traction when another video of people failing the challenge was posted to TikTok, where it received more than 5 million views in one day.
Since then, the milk crate challenge has been filmed as well as attempted in countless of communities around the US.
Videos shared to social media and viewed by millions have helped the challenge trend over the past week across multiple platforms, which is predicted to last until the end of this summer, if not longer.
