TikTok employees said they knew about child safety issues, but execs failed to act
Court documents reveal that TikTok employees repeatedly warned executives about child safety risks, including the exploitation of minors on the platform. Despite these internal warnings, staff reported that leadership failed to take sufficient action to address the concerns.
Why it matters
The report adds significant weight to ongoing litigation regarding the responsibility of social media platforms for the safety of their younger users.
TikTok was repeatedly warned by its own staffers about risks its platform posed to child safety, according to court records obtained by NPR. The publication reports that employees were frustrated over TikTok executives failing to appropriately act on concerns they raised, including minors bypassing age-restricted content, and appearing in “transactional sexual content” the company could financially benefit from.
The previously unreported depositions of TikTok staffers were filed in federal court in March, and connected to a multi-district litigation initiated in 2022 that brings together hundreds of lawsuits alleging that TikTok, Meta, Snap, and Google knew that they social media platforms are harmful to children, and failed to disclose those risks.
Headlinne story · 3 newsrooms
TikTok Executives Ignored Internal Child Safety Warnings, Court Records Reveal
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