Court records detail TikTok staff warnings about risks to children

An internal TikTok investigation found that children ages 13 to 15 appeared in 112,000 TikTok Live videos in January 2022, according to employee testimony in federal court records reviewed by NPR.

The previously unreported depositions were filed in March 2026 in a federal case consolidating hundreds of lawsuits against TikTok, Meta, Google and Snap. The suits allege the platforms harmed users under 18 or failed to disclose known risks. TikTok employees described raising concerns about minors appearing in sexual livestream content, users getting around age restrictions and exposure to suicide-related material.

The money part: Employees warned about what they called transactional sexual content, in which viewers could send virtual gifts that can be converted to money. Reagen Maher, who held senior safety and investigations roles at TikTok from 2021 to 2024, testified that the company knew about sexual exploitation involving minors before Forbes reported in 2022 that minors were stripping on TikTok Live in exchange for gifts. The internal investigation also found TikTok received significant revenue from gifts sent to livestreams that violated its rules. Gifts, coins and diamonds are still money once somebody can cash them out.

What staff said: Maher testified that she spent months trying to elevate safety problems to senior executives. In an internal chat included in her testimony, she wrote: “I have been fighting about fixing this for months with people who didn't think the harms are severe enough.” Court records also indicate TikTok avoided surveying users about their ages because it feared the results would have to be turned over to the Federal Trade Commission.

Former TikTok safety head Eric Han testified, according to The Verge, that an internal 2020 report described algorithmic rabbit holes involving suicidal ideation and behavior as having a “real contagion effect.” Han said TikTok did not adequately warn parents about those risks. Employees also flagged loopholes that let under-18 users bypass age-restricted content and prevent parents or guardians from reviewing their activity.

TikTok's response: NPR reported that TikTok declined to comment after extended communications. TechCrunch later published a statement from a TikTok spokesperson calling the claims cherry-picked and misleading, and pointing to billions spent on Trust & Safety and more than 50 teen safety, privacy and security settings. TikTok has settled several youth-safety cases, including an $8 million Kentucky school district settlement in May and a $100 million Alabama settlement in September, according to NPR.

The depositions have not been presented to a jury, and the federal litigation against TikTok is still moving toward the point where these accounts may be tested in court.