A complaint has been lodged by Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes alleging that streams on TikTok have been exploited to harm children. A lawsuit claims that while TikTok may not have intentionally known about minor users receiving explicit messages on TikTok Live, the company still financially benefited from certain exchanges through its digital gifting feature within the live-streaming service.
After a tumultuous debut on TikTok Live, the platform conducted its own thorough investigation, codenamed “Project Meramec”, in response to the lawsuit filed against it. The company discovered that a significant number of minors were circumventing TikTok’s age verification protocols, broadcasting live streams and engaging in online interactions with adult users.
TikTok reportedly earned a cut from the sales of digital goods within its live-streamed content, effectively monetizing “transactional gifting” rather than the explicit nudity and sexual activity frequently observed in these broadcasts. As TikTok’s algorithm prioritizes livestreams where digital items are traded, a few of these sexually explicit streams had gained significantly broader reach than would otherwise have been possible, according to the lawsuit.
TikTok’s latest legal entanglement centers on the “Undertaking Jupiter” probe, which scrutinized allegations that the platform’s live-streaming feature, including its gifting mechanism, might be vulnerable to money laundering schemes. Because it seems, it was. Following the lawsuit, the corporation uncovered evidence of criminals peddling medications and conducting fraudulent activities through live streams.
Upon being approached about the lawsuit, TikTok issued the following statement:
TikTok’s voluntary efforts to bolster group security and well-being have been deliberately overlooked in this lawsuit, despite a range of proactive measures already implemented by the platform. The critique selectively misquotes and utilises obsolete documents, isolating them from their original context to deliberately skew our commitment to ensuring the safety of our community.
We proudly uphold a robust commitment to safety, characterized by: pre-activated security safeguards for teenager accounts, including clear cut-off dates; the Household Pairing tool, empowering parents to monitor and guide their children’s online activity; strict guidelines governing livestreaming capabilities; and relentless enforcement of our Community Guidelines, ensuring a safe and respectful environment for all users.
The Utah Attorney General’s office filed a redacted model of the lawsuit in 2023, alleging that TikTok’s addictive design violates consumer protection laws. Utah’s legal action against the corporation marks yet another instance where its handling of child safety has faced intense scrutiny, rather than being an isolated occurrence. The Federal Trade Commission has examined TikTok’s practices, and the ban of the app, currently in limbo, was partly driven by concerns about how the popular social media platform can potentially impact children.
