TikTok was repeatedly warned by employees about the risks the social media platform posed to children, according to court records obtained by NPR. The documents reveal that employees were frustrated with how executives responded to their concerns about risks to children, including sexual exploitation and exposure to suicide-related content.

The employees warned that minors were appearing in sexual content available for purchase on TikTok, raising concerns that the company could profit from potentially illegal activity. They also flagged that minors were exploiting loopholes to access age-restricted content and hide their activity from parents.

Dangerously, TikTok didn’t conduct surveys to determine the age of its users out of concern that it would have to share the results with the Federal Trade Commission. A spokesperson for TikTok said: “These citations and claims are clearly cherry-picked at the behest of trial lawyers and used to inaccurately rewrite our history and mislead the public about our commitment to youth safety and how our platform works.”

The article also highlights that TikTok has reached settlements in several lawsuits before they went to trial, including one in Los Angeles where a jury found that Meta and YouTube had designed their platforms to be addictive to young users. The company has invested billions of dollars in Trust & Safety and rolled out more than 50 preset safety, privacy, and security settings for teens, including Family Pairing, which helps parents and guardians customize the experience for their teens.

However, the question remains: how much warning was enough for TikTok’s executives to take action? The debate around social media safety and corporate responsibility continues to evolve.