Senators Demand Answers From TikTok Over Safety Experiment

Two U.S. senators are demanding answers from TikTok over a reported experiment that withheld an algorithmic safety feature from millions of American users, including minors.

Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., sent a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Chew and Adam Presser, CEO of TikTok’s U.S. business, after Bloomberg reported that the company intentionally disabled a safeguard for about 10% of U.S. users as part of an experiment.

The feature was designed to reduce repeated exposure to potentially harmful content. According to the report, TikTok created a control group without the safeguard to measure whether the feature affected user engagement.

Senators question why minors were included

Among the users reportedly placed in the control group was 16-year-old Chase Nasca. Bloomberg reported that his recommendations included large amounts of content related to sadness, loneliness and suicide before he died by suicide.

Blackburn and Blumenthal described TikTok’s decision to experiment as “depraved” and are seeking answers to 13 questions. Their requests include identifying employees who knew about the test, explaining why minors were allowed into the control group and disclosing other U.S. experiments in which TikTok delayed or disabled safety features.

The senators have given TikTok until Sept. 1 to respond. Their inquiry adds to longstanding scrutiny of how social media platforms test recommendation algorithms and what safeguards are required when those experiments involve young users.

The dispute also raises a broader accountability issue for large platforms: engagement experiments can affect what millions of people see, making decisions about who enters a control group particularly consequential when safety protections are involved.