TikTok knew its livestreaming feature allowed child exploitation, state lawsuit alleges

TikTok has long been aware that its video livestream feature has been misused to harm children, according to newly revealed details in a lawsuit brought against the social media company by the state of Utah. Those harms include child sexual exploitation and what Utah calls “an open-door policy allowing predators and criminals to exploit users”.

The state’s attorney general says TikTok conducted an internal investigation in which it discovered adults paid teens to “strip, pose, and dance provocatively” using its livestream feature, known as TikTok Live. Another internal investigation showed TikTok Live was used to launder money, sell drugs and fund terrorist groups, according to the lawsuit.

Utah first brought its suit against TikTok last June, alleging the social media company was profiting off child exploitation. The state built its case using internal documents obtained from TikTok via subpoena. Much of that information, however, had been redacted from public view – until now.

On Friday, Utah’s office of the attorney general released a mostly unredacted version of the suit. TikTok had tried to keep the documents confidential, but a district court judge ruled to unseal the evidence on 19 December, according to Bloomberg. The move comes as TikTok, which is owned by Chinese-based ByteDance, is facing a national ban in the US over its alleged potential to be manipulated by the Chinese government.

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