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Written by Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) – TikTok has long known that its video content promoted sexual behavior and child exploitation but failed to see why it “benefited greatly” from them, according to newly filed federal lawsuits. Utah.
The allegations were made public on Friday, ahead of a planned January 19 ban on TikTok in the United States unless its China-based owner, ByteDance, sells the popular social media app.
President-elect Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to stop the ban. TikTok, for its part, said it prioritizes safe streaming.
Utah’s original lawsuit accusing TikTok of child abuse was filed last June by the state’s Department of Consumer Protection, and state Attorney General Sean Reyes said TikTok’s Live streaming feature created “virtual strip club” by connecting victims with adult predators in real time.
Citing the internal communications of TikTok employees and operational reports, Friday’s complaint, which was not changed, said that TikTok had learned about the Live threats that were generated by a series of internal audits.
It said that an investigation known as Project Meramec discovered in early 2022 that hundreds of thousands of children between the ages of 13 and 15 had violated Live’s minimum age restrictions.
It said many children at the time were allegedly “coached” by adults to perform sexual acts, sometimes involving prostitution, in exchange for real gifts.
The complaint also says that an investigation launched in 2021, Project Jupiter, found that criminals are using Live to launder money, sell drugs and support terrorism including the Islamic State.
In addition, an internal investigation of December 2023 “documented what TikTok believes to be the ‘evil’ of maintaining Live and the current risks for children of the device,” said the complaint.
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TikTok has fought back against the announcements, citing privacy concerns and its interest in “preventing bad actors from getting a roadmap” to abuse the app.
Utah state judge Coral Sanchez ordered the release of most of the prepared material on December 19.
“This decision ignores the number of strong measures that TikTok has voluntarily implemented to support the safety and well-being of the public,” a TikTok spokesperson said on Friday.
“Instead, complaints choose misleading wording and outdated documents and present them in an inconsistent manner, undermining our commitment to the safety of our community,” the spokesperson said.
In October, a 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 often a tool for exploiting America’s youth,” Reyes said in a statement Friday.
“Thanks to Judge Sanchez’s decision, TikTok’s shocking behavior will now be publicized in this unmodified complaint,” he added. “(The) full extent of its guilt can be shown at trial.”
President Joe Biden signed a bill authorizing a ban on TikTok last April, citing concerns that TikTok could collect intelligence from American users and share it with the Chinese government.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether to end the ban on Jan. 10. A quick decision is expected.
