A bipartisan pair of senators on Friday that TikTok turn over 鈥渁ll documents and information鈥� related to disclosures about child safety on the app that, until recently, were hidden from public view.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) wrote the letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew from NPR and that revealed internal company documents suggesting TikTok executives are aware of how the popular service can potentially endanger children.
The bombshell revelations appeared in passages that were supposed to have been redacted in 14 separate state lawsuits . But in Kentucky, a clerical error allowed the blacked-out portions to be read when copied and pasted into a separate document.
They revealed excerpts from previously-unknown documents, mostly TikTok鈥檚 internal communications and presentations, and showed the multibillion-dollar tech firm was aware of a whole host of potential harms to children, although it at times presented information publicly that contradicted internal research.
In their letter, Blumenthal and Blackburn described the reporting as including 鈥渟hocking revelations鈥� about TikTok鈥檚 alleged failure to keep minors safe on the platform. 鈥淩ather than address these risks, TikTok instead seemingly misled the public about the safety of its platform,鈥� the senators wrote.
Blumenthal and Blackburn, who co-sponsored the , which passed in the Senate but stalled in the House, gave TikTok until Oct. 25 to provide the senators with all of the confidential materials it provided to Kentucky authorities before that state鈥檚 top attorney, along with 13 others, sued the platform on Tuesday.
A TikTok spokesman did not return a request for comment about the senators鈥� request.
But on Thursday, TikTok spokesman Alex Haurek criticized NPR for reporting on information that is now under a court seal, claiming the material 鈥渃herry-picks misleading quotes and takes outdated documents out of context to misrepresent our commitment to community safety.鈥�
On Friday, the Tech Oversight Project, a social media watchdog group, said that TikTok has not been honest about how safe children are on the app.
鈥淭hese unredacted documents prove that TikTok knows exactly what it鈥檚 doing to our kids鈥揳nd the rot goes all the way to the top,鈥� the group .
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