They’re drowning themselves for clout.
Eager influencers are putting themselves through torture for the latest dangerous social media trend — and this one could actually kill you.
Clips of people covering their faces with towels and dumping water on their heads in an attempt to waterboard themselves are going gone viral on TikTok — showing their fans what it’s like to endure the brutal interrogation technique prohibited by international law.
Some of the shameful videos have been taken down from the popular site, but several remain.
In one of the most recent videos, still online at the time of publication, TikTokker @teekay.k7 sat down on the edge of his shower with a gray bath towel over this face, leaned back and dumped a large bowl of water on himself.
His legs immediately start kicking as he makes gurgling sounds. After about three seconds, he drops the bowl and whips the towel off himself as he sputters and struggles to catch his breath.
“Okay, don’t try that at home,” he said into the camera still panting.
“Man, I nearly died.”
Viewers were left shocked by the bizarre and extremely risky move.
“Methods of torture are now being used for enjoyment? We ought to pray,” one of the top comments read.
However, several responded that they wanted to try it for themselves — and the thousands of videos with #waterboard prove that many have.
TikTokker @elandz0 was one of those.
“Is it really that bad? Might have to try it,” he commented before sharing a similar video which ended with the young man gasping for air.
“Why are we waterboarding ourselves?” someone replied.
“These are the trends our parents talk about,” another said.
Waterboarding is a form of torture that causes a person to feel as though they are drowning, nearly causing suffocation.
The tactic is banned by international human rights law.
However, the US did admit to using the technique during the post-9/11 “War on Terror.”
President Donald Trump has more recently praised waterboarding in interviews.
The astonishing trend calls to mind previous crazes such as “the blackout challenge” — said to have led to serious injury and even death.
