TikTok Withheld Safety Update From Millions, Algorithm Test Linked To Teen’s Death In US
A confidential Internal Report from TikTok document has shown that the app knowingly kept millions of users on an older, riskier algorithm to test if a safety update would hurt engagement. TikTok ran the experiment on millions of users, which excluded a 16-year-old, leading to his suicide, the report pointed out. The app’s experiment on how engaging it is made the victim at the receiving end of countless suicide and self-harm content, forcing him to take the extreme step. The incident has raised fresh questions about how much control algorithms have over what people, especially children and teens, watch online.
TikTok updated its algorithm to limit harmful content like suicide, self-harm, and hopelessness videos. But to test if the update would hurt engagement, TikTok kept 10% of US users — about 15 million people — on the old algorithm and the teenager got in that group. The victim’s account got stuck in a “filter bubble” and his algorithm kept feeding him repetitive content it thought he would watch.
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The teen was shown thousands of videos about suicide, sadness, hopelessness, and loneliness in the weeks, days, and hours before he died. The leaked document said the user impact decision was a delicate balance between safety and the ability to measure impact on (Daily Active User)DAU and core metrics.
The report alleged user growth was prioritized over safety, a trade-off now central to thousands of lawsuits against social media companies in US courts.
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TikTok has responded that the company is committed to the safety and well-being of users, especially teens, underlining that it invests heavily in detection systems and teams that remove violating content. The documents currently remain under court seal.
