TikTok knew its live streams were exploiting children, Reuters claims in a lawsuit from Utah
By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) – TikTok has long known that its live video streams encourage sexual behavior and exploit children, but turned a blind eye as it “substantially profited” from them, according to newly disclosed material in a lawsuit filed by the state of Utah.
The charges were announced on Friday, ahead of a planned ban on TikTok in the United States on January 19 unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, sells the popular social media app.
President-elect Donald Trump asked the US Supreme Court to put the ban on hold. For its part, TikTok has said it prioritizes safe live streaming.
Utah’s original lawsuit accusing TikTok of exploiting children was filed last June by the state’s Department of Consumer Protection, with Attorney General Sean Reyes saying the TikTok Live streaming feature created a “virtual strip club” connecting victims with adult predators in real time.
Citing internal communications from TikTok employees and compliance reports, Friday’s largely unredacted complaint said TikTok learned of the threats posed by Live through a series of internal reviews of the feature.
An investigation known as Project Meramec in early 2022 is said to have revealed how hundreds of thousands of 13- to 15-year-olds bypassed Live’s minimum age restrictions.
It is said that many of the children were then allegedly “groomed” by adults to perform sexual acts, sometimes including nudity, in exchange for virtual gifts.
The lawsuit also says that an investigation launched in 2021, Project Jupiter, found that criminals were using Live to launder money, sell drugs and finance terrorism, including the Islamic State.
In addition, an internal study from December 2023 “documented what TikTok acknowledges as the ‘cruelty’ of maintaining Live in addition to the current risks to minors on the app,” the complaint states.
USER SECURITY
TikTok has opposed disclosure, citing privacy concerns and its interest in “preventing potential bad actors from getting a plan” to abuse the app.
Utah State Judge Coral Sanchez ordered the release of much of the previously redacted material on Dec. 19.
“This lawsuit ignores the many proactive measures that TikTok has voluntarily implemented to support the safety and well-being of the community,” a TikTok spokesperson said Friday.
“Instead, the complaint cherry-picks misleading quotes and outdated documents and presents them out of context, which distorts our commitment to the safety of our community,” the spokesperson added.
In October, a bipartisan group of 13 US states and Washington, DC, separately sued TikTok for allegedly exploiting children and making them addicted to the app.
“Social media is too often a tool to exploit young people in America,” Reyes said in a statement released Friday.
“Thanks to Judge Sanchez’s decision, more than TikTok’s shocking behavior will now be made public through this unredacted complaint,” he added. “The full extent of his guilt can be shown at trial.”
President Joe Biden signed legislation authorizing the ban on TikTok last April, addressing concerns that TikTok could collect intelligence on American users and share it with the Chinese government.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether to put the ban on hold on January 10. The decision is expected to be quick.
