TikTok Aware of Ineffective Age Restrictions, Utah AG Office Reveals
TikTok was aware its age restrictions were ineffective and thousands of minors were able to access its Live feed product, an internal investigation for the social media company showed, according to the Utah attorney general's office. The office on Friday announced the release of details that were previously redacted in its complaint filed in June against TikTok.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
The "less-redacted complaint" demonstrates the AG has enough evidence that TikTok used its livestream feature in tandem with monetization to “create an environment built on exchanging TikTok’s virtual currency for sexual and illegal acts,” the AG office said.
“Sadly, social media is too often the tool for exploiting America’s young people," said former AG Sean Reyes (R), who filed the complaint while in office. "Online exploitation of minors has exploded, leading to depression, isolation, and other tragedies such as suicide, addiction, and trafficking. It would be outrageous enough to endanger our kids the way TikTok has -- even if it was unintended. But the fact that it serves up minors on ‘TikTokLive,’ knowing the danger, understanding the damage, and still monetizing the exploitation of our kids is unconscionable. And that doesn’t even address the money laundering aspects of our case.”
The complaint also alleges that the social media platform’s algorithm boosts livestreams that receive virtual currency, and that the feeds with high currency exchange involve money laundering and/or sexual content.
“Utah’s unredacted complaint demonstrates how clearly depraved TikTok’s business model is. Such a blatant disregard for the safety of our children on the platform, not to mention profiting from their exploitation, shocks the conscience and proves that TikTok harms children,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R).
This is Utah's second lawsuit against TikTok. The first was filed in October 2023 over the platform's addictive features aimed at younger users. “Since the State’s first complaint against TikTok, we have had to fight tooth and nail to get this information from them," said Margaret Woolley Busse, Utah Department of Commerce executive director. “Now that the court has allowed us to make more of the Division’s complaint public, it shows just how TikTok has been lacking in any moral guardrails and how they have knowingly put our kids at risk.”