TikTok ‘Aware’ Livestream Feature Exploited Minors
Less-redacted Utah lawsuit says TikTok internal reviews found Live feature effectively incentivised abuse of minors for profit
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TikTok was long aware that its livestream platform effectively incentivised sexual content and exploited children but turned a blind eye due to strong profits, the state of Utah said in a newly released, less-redacted version of a lawsuit against the social media company.
In the lawsuit, originally filed in June 2024 by the state’s Division of Consumer Protection, Utah attorney general Sean Reyes compared streams on the TikTok Live feature to “virtual strip clubs” connecting victims to adult predators in real time.
The largely unredacted complaint was published on Friday ahead of a 19 January deadline for TikTok to be banned in the US unless parent company ByteDance divests it.
It claims TikTok learned of the issues with Live through a series of internal reviews, including one in early 2022 called Project Meramec that showed how hundreds of thousands of 13-to-15 year olds bypassed TikTok’s minimum age restrictions.
Exploitation
That review found many children were then allegedly “groomed” by adults to perform sexual acts, sometimes including nudity, in exchange for virtual gifts that can be exchanged for real-world money.
TikTok allegedly knew the Live feature highlights feeds that offer virtual gifts, and furthermore knew that users were “more likely to exchange gifts for sexualised acts and content”, therefore incentivising sexual content.
An internal December 2023 study “documented what TikTok admits is ‘the cruelty’ of maintaining Live with its current risks for minors on the app”, the complaint says.
A separate internal study called Project Jupiter found that criminals used Live to launder money, sell drugs and fund outlawed militant groups including Islamic State.
The revelations in this complaint are not just allegations of negligence — they are evidence of a deliberate choice to prioritise profit over the safety and well-being of our children,” said Utah governor Spencer Cox in a statement.
‘Look the other way’
“TikTok knew the harm its platform was causing, yet chose to look the other way, allowing predators to exploit minors in unconscionable ways.”
TikTok had attempted to stifle the disclosures, citing confidentiality concerns and its interest in “preventing potential bad actors from getting a roadmap” for misuse.
The company said the complaint “ignores the number of proactive measures that TikTok has voluntarily implemented to support community safety and well-being” and instead “cherry-picks misleading quotes and outdated documents and presents them out of context”.
In a separate case, a group of 13 US states and Washington DC in October sued TikTok for allegedly exploiting children and addicting them to the app.
