Senators press TikTok over withholding of safety features for some users
Sens. Blackburn and Blumenthal demand TikTok explain why safety features were withheld from about 10% of users, following a teenager's suicide.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal sent a letter demanding answers from TikTok after a Bloomberg report showed the company withheld algorithmic safety changes from a control group of about 10% of users, including 16-year-old Chase Nasca, who died by suicide in February 2022. An internal review found the teen viewed more than 7,500 videos in his final two weeks, 73% with themes of sadness or personal struggles. The senators tied the case to the Kids Online Safety Act, which advanced out of the Senate Commerce Committee on August 5, and set a September 1 deadline for responses.
- Blackburn and Blumenthal letter questions TikTok's A/B tests disabling safety protections for some users
- Internal review found filter bubble prevention was withheld by design from a ~10% user control group
- Nasca viewed 7,500+ videos in two weeks; 73% carried sadness or personal struggle themes
- Senators cited the Kids Online Safety Act advancing out of Senate committee on August 5
- They requested the full report on Nasca's death and answers by September 1
- Organizations
- US Senate
- Countries
- United States
From the original article
2 min read at therecord.media
Two U. S. senators are demanding answers from the social media giant TikTok following media reports that the company intentionally turned off security features for a subset of users to test how the protections would impact their engagement with the app.
therecord.media
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