TikTok staff depositions: TikTok executives ignored internal warnings about child sexual exploitation on Live, where staff said minors appeared in livestreams

Internal warnings about child exploitation were ignored by TikTok executives, which indicates a direct financial prioritization over child safety.

Previously unreported court records reveal that TikTok employees repeatedly warned company executives about children appearing in sexually explicit livestreams and engaging in exploitative content, but these concerns were largely ignored. Depositions filed in March 2026 show that staff flagged issues such as minors using loopholes to bypass age restrictions and block parental oversight. One executive described months of "fighting about fixing this" with leadership who did not deem the harms severe enough. An internal investigation found that between January 2021 and January 2022, children aged 13-15 appeared in over 112,000 TikTok Live videos, with the platform profiting from "gifts" purchased by viewers, which could be converted to money. TikTok, which has settled several lawsuits related to harm to young users, declined to comment on these specific allegations but pointed to its published policies.

The employee testimonies expose a severe disconnect between frontline safety concerns and executive decision-making, suggesting a culture where profit motives overshadowed child protection. This lack of internal accountability, particularly when profit is derived from potentially illegal activities like child exploitation, raises significant questions about TikTok's compliance with financial crime regulations and its broader ethical responsibilities.

The documented internal struggles to address these issues suggest that TikTok's public statements on child safety may not align with its operational realities. The company's refusal to provide comment and reliance on existing policies indicate a defensive posture, leaving users and regulators to question the efficacy of current safeguards and the genuine commitment to rectifying known harms.