Reporters found no TikTok videos of the alleged challenge and traced a viral image to a manipulated 2019 clip from Georgia, U.S.
Radio-Canada investigated claims that a TikTok challenge in Quebec encouraged children to run across roads with their eyes covered. Its Les Décrypteurs team found no video confirming the existence of the so-called “ghost road challenge.” TikTok Canada also said it had found no evidence of the trend on its platform.
A viral post included an image presented as dashcam footage from Boisbriand. Reverse-image searches led to a 2019 video from Georgia, U.S., showing a schoolgirl walking toward a bus and narrowly avoiding a car that failed to stop for a school bus. Radio-Canada’s analysis found that the viral version replaced the bus with a car, the girl with a boy covering his eyes and added a Jeep, while some background details remained unchanged.
Saint-Jérôme police warned residents after receiving a report from a citizen about a young person crossing the road with eyes covered. Police acknowledged they could not verify the account or establish whether the person was an eyewitness. The police service covering Boisbriand said it had no case file tied to the incident in the viral post. Reports of youths crossing roads dangerously do not by themselves prove a challenge was involved.
The investigation distinguishes the rumour from the so-called ghosting challenge, which has been described as frightening drivers while dressed as a ghost or lying under a sheet in the road. Separate incidents were reported in Ireland and Ontario in 2020, but evidence of a widespread TikTok trend was not established. Radio-Canada said the viral image was taken from a different event in a different location.