The key facts

  • TikTok employees warned of sexual exploitation of minors and children's access to age-restricted content
  • The company did not conduct age surveys, fearing the data would have to be handed to the FTC
  • TikTok disputes the allegations and cites investments in Trust & Safety and more than 50 settings for teens

Employee warnings

TikTok repeatedly received warnings from its own employees about the platform's risks to children, according to court documents obtained by NPR. According to NPR, employees were frustrated by management's response to their concerns, including risks of sexual exploitation and minors' access to content related to suicide. The employees' testimony was filed in March 2026.

Specific concerns

According to NPR, employees warned that minors appeared in sexual content available for purchase on TikTok, raising concerns that the company could profit from potentially illegal activity. It was also noted that teenagers used loopholes to access age-restricted content and to hide their activity from parents. In addition, the documents show that TikTok did not conduct surveys to determine users' ages, fearing that the results would have to be handed over to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

TikTok's response

A TikTok representative commented to TechCrunch: 'These quotes and assertions are clearly taken out of context at the direction of trial lawyers and are being used to inaccurately rewrite our history and mislead the public about our commitment to youth safety.' The company added that it has invested billions of dollars in Trust & Safety and implemented more than 50 safety and privacy settings for teens, including the Family Pairing feature for parents.

Context of the lawsuits

TikTok, along with Meta, Google and Snap, is a defendant in hundreds of lawsuits consolidated in federal court. Plaintiffs allege that the companies' platforms harm minors and that the companies failed to disclose known risks. TikTok has settled a number of cases before trial, including a case in Los Angeles where the jury found that Meta and YouTube designed their platforms to be addictive to young users.