Staff Say TikTok Made Money From Illegal Videos Involving Kids
Current and former employees claim the company ignored warnings about harmful content while profiting from it.
By Anna Nowak ·
TikTok is facing serious accusations from its own workforce about how it handles content involving children. Current and former staff members have stated the app profited from videos depicting child sexual exploitation, which is illegal. According to these employees, the company also failed to address internal reports regarding these videos and other harmful material when they were flagged. The allegations suggest that senior leaders were aware of the situation, yet their responses were inadequate.
The employees claim that users could pay to access certain videos featuring minors in sexual content. By allowing this, the company would generate profit from the material, which would be a potential financial crime. Staff also noted that social media platforms are legally required to report suspected child sexual abuse material, as well as any suspicions regarding money being obtained illegally through their platforms. The company did not take these steps, according to the report.
Beyond the explicit material, employees raised concerns regarding other risks to young users on the platform. They pointed out that minors were using loopholes to access age-restricted content and to block parents or guardians from reviewing their activity. Additionally, staff flagged instances where young users were shown content related to suicide and self-held, stating the platform was not taking proper steps to tackle this. TikTok also refrained from conducting surveys to assess user ages because it was concerned it would have to turn the results over to the Federal Trade Commission.
TikTok is one of the most popular apps available on the App Store and has a high proportion of teenage users. The company issued a response regarding the allegations, stating that the claims were “clearly cherry-picked at the behest of trial lawyers and used to inaccurately rewrite our history and mislead the public about our commitment to youth safety and how our platform works.”
The allegations were made by former and current employees, who say that the company failed to properly respond to internal reports. NPR reports that these concerns were raised regarding specific content and financial activities.
Source: 9to5Mac
