Italy tells TikTok to block certain users

This picture has been used for representational purpose

Italy's data protection authority said on Friday it was imposing an immediate block on TikTok's access to data for any user whose age has not been verified. The authority said it was acting with "urgency" following the death of a 10-year-old girl in Sicily, who died while participating in a so-called "blackout" challenge, while using the Chinese-owned video-sharing social network. Prosecutors in Sicily are investigating the case.

The data protection authority noted it had advised TikTok in December of a series of violations, including scant attention to the protection of minors, the ease with which users under age 13 could sign up for the platform -against its own rules-the lack of transparency in information given to users and the use of automatic settings that did not respect privacy.

"While waiting to receive a response, the authority decided to take action to ensure the immediate protection of minors in Italy registered on the network," the authority said in a statement. The block will remain in place at least until February 15.

Man killed during TikTok stunt on train track in Pakistan
A young man was hit and killed by a train in Pakistan while being filmed walking along the tracks for a TikTok stunt, police and rescue officials said on Saturday.

The accident happened on Friday in the Shah Khalid neighbourhood of Rawalpindi city, near the capital Islamabad.

Hamza Naveed, 18, was walking next to the tracks while a friend filmed him, Raja Rafaqat Zaman, a spokesperson for the local rescue agency said. "The moving train hit him while he was posing for a video and walking on the railway track." Rescue workers rushed to the site, but the man was already dead.