(Ken Silva, Headline USA) New details from the Utah Attorney General’s lawsuit against TikTok were released Friday, showing that the social media company allegedly allowed child grooming to run rampant on its site.
Utah AG Sean Reyes initially filed its allegations against TikTok in a lawsuit last June, but some of the most damning details remained redacted until Friday.
“TikTok coupled its livestream feature with monetization to create an environment built on exchanging TikTok’s virtual currency for sexual and illegal acts. TikTok’s internal ‘Project Meramec’ investigation and the admissions of its employees document how TikTok LIVE allows adults to pay young users to strip, pose, and dance provocatively for ‘diamonds,’ which can be cashed out for real money,” Reyes said in a press release.
Newly unredacted details also alleged that TikTok’s algorithm favors and boosts live feeds that receive virtual currency gifts. Those feeds with a high currency exchange often involve money laundering, sexual content, or both, according to Reyes.
“As a result, this dangerous content is prioritized and featured at the top of user feeds and labeled as ‘TopLives.’ Thus, new or curious children on the platform will fall into a hazardous community with no warning,” the attorney general alleged.
Along with child exploitation, new details from Friday’s lawsuit also included allegations that TikTok’s livestream feature has enabled the financing of terrorist groups, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.
“In fact, in 2022, Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board found ISIL benefitted from some of the approximately 1.5 billion liras (approximately $82 million) that was transferred to U.S. and foreign TikTok LIVE users in a money-laundering and terrorist-financing scheme,” the lawsuit alleged.
The above lawsuit is the second one filed by Utah’s AG against TikTok. The first one was filed in October 2023, and accused the company of “designing and implementing addictive features aimed at hooking young users into endless use of its app.” Reyes said he discovered much of the abovementioned malfeasance once TikTok was forced to finally comply with his subpoenas. TikTok had to be held in contempt of court before doing so, he added.
The Utah AG seeks a court order prohibiting TikTok from continuing its allegedly illegal activity, as well as damages and costs.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
