Shocking Revelations About Teens in Redacted TikTok Documents: NPR

People work at the TikTok Inc. building in Culver City, Calif., Monday, March 11, 2024. House Republicans are advancing a bill that would require Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban even as president in the United States Donald Trump speaks out against the efforts. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Children as young as 15 got naked on TikTok's Live feature, driven by adults who paid to do so.

This is what TikTok learned when it launched an internal investigation after a year report on Forbes. TikTok officials noted that there were “a large” number of underage streamers who received a “gift” or “coin” — real money converted into digital currency, often in the form of a plush toy — in exchange for stripping or a flower.

This is one of several disturbing reports that came to light in a trove of classified documents reviewed last week by NPR and Kentucky Public Radio. Even more worrying, TikTok executives were well aware of the potential harm the app could cause to teenagers, but didn't appear to be concerned about it.

The information came after a more than two-year investigation into TikTok by 14 state attorneys general that led to… State officials are suing the company on Tuesday.

Here are some more of the most serious and previously unreported allegations against TikTok, the wildly popular app used by around 170 million people in the United States

In less than 35 minutes or 260 videos you can become “hooked”.

TikTok has quantified the exact amount of viewing it takes for someone to form a habit: 260 videos.

Kentucky authorities note that while TikTok videos may seem like a lot, they can only be a few seconds long.

“It is therefore likely that an average user becomes addicted to the platform in less than 35 minutes,” state investigators conclude.

TikTok's algorithm prioritizes beautiful people

When TikTok's main video feed saw “a large amount of…unattractive topics” filling all screens, the app readjusted its algorithm to target users the company viewed as beautiful, according to an internal report obtained by was seen by Kentucky investigators.

In fact, TikTok's documents showed that the company even tweaked its algorithm to reduce the visibility of people it deemed not very attractive and “took active steps to promote a narrow beauty standard, even if this reflected negatively.” could impact their young users,” Kentucky authorities wrote in previously redacted documents.

Restrictions on TikTok usage had little impact

The app allows parents to set time limits for their children's usage, ranging from 40 minutes to two hours per day. TikTok has even developed a tool that sets the default time requirement to 60 minutes per day to combat excessive and compulsive use of the social media app.

After testing, TikTok found that the tool had little impact – it only caused usage to drop by about a minute and a half, from about 108.5 minutes per day to 107 minutes using the tool. According to the complaint, TikTok has not revisited this issue.

A document shows a TikTok project manager speaking openly about the actual goal of the time limit feature: “to increase public trust in the TikTok platform through media coverage,” the TikTok employee said. Our goal is not to reduce the time required.”

95% of smartphone users under 17 use TikTok

A presentation to senior company officials found that an estimated 95% of smartphone users under 17 used TikTok at least once a month. This prompted a company official to say that it had “reached a ceiling among young users.”

According to a 2021 internal presentation, TikTok found itself in an “arms race for attention.”

An internal document about users under 13 instructed moderators not to take action on reports of underage users unless their bio specifically states they are 13 or younger.

Under federal law, social media companies cannot collect data about children under 13 unless the companies have explicit parental consent.

Compulsive use of TikTok disrupts the normal lives of children

The documents show that TikTok was aware that it was “interfering with essential personal responsibilities such as adequate sleep, work/school responsibilities, and connection with loved ones.”

An unnamed TikTok executive put it succinctly: The reason kids watch TikTok is because the power of the app's algorithm prevents them from “sleeping, eating, moving around the room, and seeing someone in.” to look with your eyes.”

Response from TikTok, senators and a watchdog group

On Thursday, TikTok spokesman Alex Haurek criticized NPR for reporting information now under a court seal, claiming that the material “cherry-picks misleading quotes and takes outdated documents out of context to misrepresent our commitment to community safety.” “.

However, some advocacy groups welcomed the revelations.

The Oversight Project, a social media watchdog group, said TikTok has not been honest about the safety of children on the app. “These unredacted documents prove that TikTok knows exactly what it is doing to our children – and the rot goes all the way to the top,” the group said wrote on X.

Also on Friday, a bipartisan pair of Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) wrote a letter to TikTok, asking the company to turn over “all documents and information” related to child safety disclosures on the app Citing the NPR report.