People have been left horrified after a dangerous trend appears to have taken hold on TikTok.
The bizarre, and potentially deadly, torture challenge encourages creators to imitate waterboarding, by pouring cold water over their faces while wearing a towel or a hood.
Known as waterboarding, the torture technique was widely used in interrogations by the CIA in the aftermath of 9/11 and triggers a sensation of drowning, causing victims to panic.
Now, in the concerning social media trend, TikTok users are inflicting the sensation on themselves, sitting in the bath and placing a towel or hood over their faces, before pouring a bucket of water over themselves.
While the trend appears to have taken off on the platform, some viewers have expressed extreme concern for the safety of the people involved.
In one video, a user going by the name Teekay posted a clip of himself covered in a grey towel while sat on the floor of a shower pouring a plastic bowl of water over his head.
After soaking himself he quickly ripped away the towel from his face gasping, before telling the camera man nearly died as he laughed in shock.
In response to the video, another TikToker with the username @elandz asked his followers: Is it really that bad? Might have to try it, before sharing a similar video of himself trying the waterboarding trend.
Social media users have been left horrified over a dangerous new trend on TikTok which sees users attempt to waterboard themselves while wearing a towel or hood
The UK-based social media user donned an orange swimming cap and red trunks before climbing in to his bathtub and trying out the torture technique on himself.
Wearing a light grey pillow case as a hood, Elandz soaked himself before ripping off the makeshift hood.
Clearly panicked, he then repeated That’s not calm, before climbing out of the bath.
His video has been viewed more than 2million times, with others flocking to the comments to express their outrage at challenge.
Underneath the clip users wrote: Why are we water boarding ourselves?, and We’re not starting a water boarding trend.
Others said: These are the trends our parents talk about.
One person wrote: People are only just wondering why it is a torturing method and another scolded those taking part in the challenge commenting, Guys there are real life people living with PTSD and youre just joking like it’s nothing.
And Elandz is not the only TikTok user hopping on the trend which has reached the US too.
One social media user from across the pond, going by the name @BruhGuy posted a clip of himself with a thick towel and then a red and white kitchen cloth over his face as he sat in the bath pouring buckets of water over his head.
In the videos on social media, TikTok users lay down or sit in a bath with a towel or hood over their heads before pouring a bucket of water over themselves
@dilfhonkers
@koye? lets make this a trend ^_^ #fyp #waterboard #trend
♬ Observance – Cormac Walsh 
Lying on the floor with a T-shirt over his face, one social media user used the shower head to soak his face before choking on the water and sitting up in shock
Sharing the video with his followers he said: Guys I saw this on TikTok and I wanted to try it – Im going to waterboard myself.
I dont think its that bad, I dont know why people are overreacting so were going to try it.
In his first attempt, the video-maker said it did nothing and he expressed irritation at being wet but he then swapped out the cloth and on his sixth attempt was shocked at the result, gagging and spluttering before turning off the camera abruptly.
Another UK-based influencer said he had tried the waterboarding trend to avoid revising for his A Levels.
Lying on the floor with a T-shirt over his face, the social media user used the shower head to soak his face before choking on the water and sitting up in shock.
One US TikToker posted a video of himself in a bathroom, covered with a large pink towel.
He then showed himself pouring a bottle of water over his face before taking off the towel and spitting, coughing and gasping in shock.
A UK-based user going by the name @slaydavie shared a clip of their friend waterboarding themselves over the bath while on a video call.
One US TikTok user posted a video of himself in a bathroom, covered with a large pink towel as part of the challenge and was filmed by friends
One social media user from across the pond posted a clip of himself with a red and white kitchen cloth over his face as he sat in the bath pouring buckets of water over his head
@bruhguyy
Tips please #foryou #foryoupage #fyp #waterboarding #makethisviral #blowthisup #abcxyz
♬ Bossa Nova jazz that seems to fit in a cafe(1433079) – TAKANORI ONDA 
A UK-based user going by the name @slaydavie shared a clip of their friend waterboarding themselves over the bath while on a video call
Underneath the clip, users flooded to the comments to ask why people were putting themselves through a torture technique
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They captioned the clip: My friend Facetiming me while trying to waterboard herself.
In the clip, a girl wearing a turquoise towel over her face leaned her head back over the bath before spraying her face with the shower but quickly dropped it to sit up and gasped as she turned the water off.
Waterboarding has been practiced for centuries and was used by the Spanish Inquisition in the 1500s as well as by Dutch traders against the British in the 18th century and the Japanese Army during World War II.
In 1949 following the fourth Geneva Convention, the use of torture and the cruel treatment of prisoners of war and civilians was expressly forbidden – including waterboarding.
After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, The US Department of Justice under the George W. Bush administration secretly authorised the CIA to use the techniques against suspected terrorists, deciding it did not constitute torture.
In 2003 the CIA repeatedly waterboarded three captured members of al-Qaeda, the Islamic terrorist organisation responsible for the attacks.
After the secret agency confirmed its use of waterboarding in 2005, members of the Bush administration defended the technique as legal and necessary, claiming it helped them discover important information about future terrorist attacks.
