TikTok employees said they knew about child safety issues, but execs failed to act

<figure> <img alt="The TikTok logo on a black background with repeating geometric shapes" data-caption="" data-portal-copyright="Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23951406/STK051_VRG_Illo_N_Barclay_6_tiktok.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">TikTok was repeatedly warned by its own staffers about risks its platform posed to child safety, according to court records obtained by <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/10/20/nx-s1-6005809/tiktok-child-safety-money-laundering"><em>NPR</em></a>. The publication reports that employees were frustrated over TikTok executives failing to appropriately act on concerns they raised, including minors bypassing age-restricted content, and appearing in "transactional sexual content" the company could financially benefit from.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The previously unreported depositions of TikTok staffers were filed in federal court in March, and connected to a <a href="https://cand.uscourts.gov/cases-e-filing/cases/422-md-03047-ygr/re-social-media-adolescent-addictionpersonal-injury-products">multi-district litigation initiated in 2022</a> that brings together <a href="https://www.theverge.com/policy/880850/social-media-lawsuits-meta-facebook-instagram-tiktok">hundreds of lawsuits</a> alleging that TikTok, Meta, Snap …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1014250/tiktok-employees-internal-child-safety-warnings">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>