Blackburn & Blumenthal Demand TikTok Documents
October 11, 2024
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn), authors of the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act, wrote TikTok CEO Shou Chew requesting “documents, communications, and research held by TikTok regarding the safety of minors on its platform.” The request follows reports of a court filing from the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office revealing TikTok executives’ awareness of the platform’s harm to young people and subsequent disregard of the mental and physical dangers the platform poses to children and teens.
The Senators wrote, “TikTok has knowingly designed their products in a manner that can cause substantial harm to kids—including fostering destructive addiction and amplifying child sexual exploitation. Rather than address these risks, TikTok instead seemingly misled the public about the safety of its platform.”
The Senators continued, “These new disclosures highlight the pervasive and alarming failures of TikTok and other online platforms to protect kids and the pressing need for federal rules to require accountability, safeguards, and transparency, such as those required in the Senate-passed Kids Online Safety Act.”
BACKGROUND:
- In the letters, the Senators requested that TikTok provide documents and information previously produced to the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office and other states’ Attorneys General.
