TikTok is facing accusations that it profited from illegal videos depicting the sexual exploitation of children on its platform. The claims come from current and former employees, according to a report by NPR that was relayed by 9to5Mac on 21 October 2026.
The employees say they warned internally that minors were appearing in sexual content on the app. Viewers could pay to access that material, and the company stood to earn money from it, which staff flagged as a potential financial crime. They allege that TikTok failed to respond properly to those internal reports.
Staff also raised concerns about how teenagers use the service. According to the report, users under 18 were exploiting loopholes to get around age-restricted content and to prevent parents and guardians from reviewing their activity on the app.
Documents cited in the report indicate that TikTok avoided running surveys to determine the ages of its users. The company was reportedly worried that it would have to hand the results to the Federal Trade Commission.
Employees say senior leaders were aware of these problems, but that their responses fell short. The issue carries legal weight: 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.
The report adds that staff voiced internal concerns about young users being shown content related to suicide and self-harm. According to the employees, the platform was not taking adequate steps to address the problem.
TikTok is among the most popular apps on the App Store and has a high proportion of teenage users, which raises the stakes of the allegations.
The company rejected the claims. It said the claims in the story 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.”
