TikTok has long known that its live video streaming feature has been misused to harm children, according to details recently revealed in a lawsuit filed against the social media company by the state of Utah. Those harms include child sexual exploitation and what Utah calls “an open-door policy that allows predators and criminals to exploit users.”
The state attorney general says TikTok conducted an internal investigation in which it found that adults paid teenagers to “undress, pose and dance provocatively” using its live streaming feature, known as TikTok Live. Another internal investigation showed that TikTok Live was used by criminals to launder money, sell drugs and finance terrorist groups, according to the lawsuit.
Utah first he brought his demand against TikTok last June, alleging that the social media company was profiting from child exploitation. The state built its case using internal documents obtained from TikTok via subpoena. However, much of that information had been hidden from public view…until now.
On Friday, the Utah attorney general’s office released a largely unredacted version of the lawsuit. TikTok had attempted to keep the documents confidential, but a district court judge decided to unseal the evidence on December 19. according to Bloomberg. The move comes as TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, faces a nationwide ban in the United States over its potential to be manipulated by the Chinese government.
“Online child exploitation has skyrocketed, leading to depression, isolation and other tragedies such as suicide, addiction and trafficking,” Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said in a statement. statement on Friday. “The fact that (TikTok) offers services to minors on ‘TikTok Live’, knowing the danger, understanding the harm and still monetizing the exploitation of our children is unscrupulous.”
A TikTok spokesperson said Utah’s lawsuit “ignores” the proactive measures the company has taken. “Instead, the complaint selects misleading quotes and outdated documents and presents them out of context, distorting our commitment to the safety of our community,” he said.
The spokesperson said people must be at least 18 years old to use the live feature and that TikTok offers customizable safety tools for users. But, according to the unredacted version of Utah’s lawsuit, TikTok Live was so lucrative that “the company was slow to implement security measures.”
Utah’s case against the company is part of a wave of lawsuits filed by U.S. attorneys general over alleged exploitation of children taking place on several apps. In December 2023, New Mexico sued Meta, alleging that Facebook and Instagram “allowed adults to find, message and groom minors” for sexual exploitation.
In October, 13 states and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits against TikTok on similar grounds as Utah. Days after the presentation, NPR discovered a wrongly worded version of the Kentucky lawsuit, which also revealed that TikTok executives knew of the app’s danger to children.
In 2022, according to Forbes published an article Regarding teens stripping for money on TikTok Live, TikTok launched an internal investigation, codenamed Project Meramec, according to the unredacted documents. Project Meramec found that nearly 400,000 TikTok Live creators were between 16 and 17 years old, and that a “high” number of underage users performed sexualized acts in exchange for digital currency, such as a gift emoji, which could be exchanged for real money .
The company’s researchers said they found an “endless stream” of creators who openly admitted they were 14 and 15 years old and held up signs on camera saying what they would do for a specific gift emoji. According to the lawsuit, those signs allegedly said things like “Rose = say daddy,” “ice cream = 360 spin” and “universe = cut off shirt.”
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“The defenders said they reported the streams through TikTok’s internal reporting tools, but TikTok found that they did not violate its policies,” the lawsuit reads.
TikTok takes a financial cut from digital gifts, which can often be as high as 50%, according to the lawsuit. Utah lawmakers say TikTok’s algorithm boosts livestreams that contain sexual content because they tend to be the most lucrative.
Along with Project Meramec, TikTok launched another internal investigation called Project Jupiter in 2021, according to unredacted documents. This focused on how organized crime could use Live to launder money through the giveaway feature. According to the lawsuit, TikTok investigators discovered that criminals were selling drugs and conducting fraudulent transactions on the platform.
As with underage users and sexual content, unredacted documents show that TikTok investigators identified a “high money laundering risk” for Live. But, the lawsuit says, “TikTok never took meaningful steps to curb money laundering or illicit activities.”