TikTok Accused of Making Money Off Child Exploitation Content

The allegation is as blunt as it is disturbing: a widely used video app is accused of generating revenue from content that should never have been allowed on the platform in the first place. Reports from people who work or have worked inside the company say TikTok profited from videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children. That claim, reported by NPR, comes from former and current employees who say they raised alarms about minors appearing in sexual content, and that the company failed to respond properly to those internal reports.

Here is how the money piece of the allegation works. Some of the content in question could be accessed by viewers for a fee, with the company taking a cut. Employees who flagged the material argue that profiting from it amounts to a potential financial crime. Alongside that, social media companies are required by law to report suspected child sexual abuse material, as well as any suspicion that money is being obtained illegally through their platforms.

Employees also raised a second set of issues about how young users interact with the app's controls. They said users under 18 were finding ways around age-restricted content, and finding ways to keep parents and guardians from reviewing their activity. Documents cited in the reporting say the company declined to run surveys asking users to confirm their ages, out of concern that the results would have to be handed over to the Federal Trade Commission.

There is more in the same vein. Concerns were also raised internally about younger users being served content related to suicide and self-harm, and about whether the platform was doing enough to address it. Employees who spoke about these matters said senior leaders were aware of the issues, but that their responses were inadequate.

The app remains one of the most downloaded on the App Store, with a large share of teenage users. TikTok responded to the claims by saying they are "clearly cherry-picked at the behest of trial lawyers and used to inaccurately rewrite our history and mislead the public about our commitment to youth safety and how our platform works."

For now, the allegations sit with the company and the public, and no action by regulators or courts is described in the reporting. What happens next will likely depend on how the company responds to the specific claims about its handling of reports, and on whether any authority takes a closer look at the issues employees say they raised internally.