TikTok Employees Voiced Child Safety Concerns Amid Growing Legal Challenges

Employees at TikTok have consistently expressed concerns about child safety, particularly regarding sexual content involving minors on the app. These concerns also include issues of users under 18 bypassing age restrictions. The app was profiting from viewers accessing such content, making it a potential financial crime. Additionally, minors used loopholes to prevent parental oversight.

Court records reveal frustration among employees over the company’s response to these issues. Depositions from March 2026 provide insights into how TikTok’s leadership has addressed these safety risks since the app gained popularity among young users in 2018.

TikTok employees highlighted minors in sexual content and users bypassing age restrictions.

While TikTok refrained from commenting for this story, it did direct inquiries to its existing company policies. The platform, along with tech giants like Meta and Google, is embroiled in lawsuits alleging that their services harm young users. TikTok has already settled several cases before reaching trial, like a landmark trial in Los Angeles, where a jury found platforms designed to be addictive to young users.

In May, TikTok settled a lawsuit for $8 million over youth mental health in Kentucky. Another $100 million settlement was agreed upon with Alabama in September concerning addiction and harmful content exposure. The depositions reviewed by NPR have not been used as court evidence yet.

“Fighting About Fixing This for Months”

Reagen Maher, a former TikTok safety executive, described efforts to elevate safety concerns. She highlighted transactional sexual content involving minors and called for immediate solutions. An internal investigation in January 2022 revealed that minors appeared in over 112,000 TikTok Live videos. Risks included child exploitation and grooming.

Federal law imposes liability on companies benefiting from child exploitation, as noted by Silvija Krupena from RedCompass Labs. TikTok must report such content to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Yet, it remains unclear if TikTok has met these obligations or what it did with revenue from illicit content.

Loopholes to Bypass Age-Restricted Content

Employee testimonies also outlined how minors bypassed content restrictions. TikTok accounts require age declaration, but Maher highlighted loopholes through platforms like Google and Facebook. Such oversight is concerning given TikTok’s widespread use among teens.

Since a 2018 acquisition, TikTok has grown immensely. However, concerns about violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) have led TikTok to avoid age-related research.

Features like ‘family pairing’ aimed to allow parental control, though they were often bypassed by tech-savvy teens, diminishing their effectiveness.

Rabbit Holes of Harmful Content

Content related to self-harm and suicide also raised concerns. Eric Han, former head of safety, acknowledged that TikTok’s algorithm could trap users in harmful ‘rabbit holes.’ Despite internal acknowledgment of risks, the platform failed to adequately warn guardians.

These issues, alongside legal challenges, highlight the ongoing debate around TikTok’s responsibilities. The app must navigate complex safety and compliance challenges as pressure mounts.