TikTok staff members raised alarms internally about dangers the platform posed to children and grew frustrated when executives did not respond with adequate action, according to court records obtained by NPR. The records include previously unreported depositions from TikTok employees that were filed in federal court in March. They are tied to a multi-district litigation launched in 2022 that consolidates hundreds of lawsuits against TikTok, Meta, Snap and Google. Those suits allege the companies knew their platforms harmed children and did not disclose those risks.
One deposition came from Reagen Maher, who held senior safety and investigations roles at TikTok between 2021 and 2024. Maher said she flagged “transactional sexual content” involving minors to then-TikTok CEO V Pappas, describing children stripping on TikTok’s Live feature in exchange for “gifts” that can be converted into real currency. Forbes reported on the issue in 2022, and Maher said TikTok was already aware of the sexual exploitation concerns before that article appeared. In an excerpt from an internal chat with a colleague, Maher said she had spent months arguing with people who did not consider the harms severe enough to fix. She said senior leaders knew about the issue, that some projects were underway to address parts of it, and that she hoped publicity would push other remedies forward.
A second deposition came from Eric Han, TikTok’s former head of safety. Han said he was concerned in 2020 about harmful algorithm “rabbit holes,” describing in an internal TikTok report what he called a “real contagion effect” involving suicidal ideation and behavior. Han said he flagged that minor safety was an urgent issue the company had to address effectively, but that TikTok did not warn parents about the potential dangers of their children using the platform.
The filings arrive as social media companies face mounting legal pressure over addiction, safety and mental health. The lawsuits at issue in the multi-district litigation target TikTok, Meta, Snap and Google, and the newly surfaced depositions put internal employee warnings about child safety at the center of that dispute.
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