Report details alleged failures in handling risky content

A report citing internal documents and interviews with current and former workers details allegations that the company profited from videos depicting the sexual exploitation of minors. The allegations, reported by NPR, suggest the platform failed to adequately address internal reports concerning this content and other user safety matters.

The first major point involves employees reportedly raising alarms about minors appearing in sexual content that could be accessed through payments. The company would profit from these transactions, a practice the report characterizes as a potential financial crime. Furthermore, the documents allege that users under 18 found ways to bypass age restrictions and prevent guardians from monitoring their activity on the platform.

A second issue identified in the report concerns the company's approach to user age verification. The documents state that the platform refrained from conducting surveys to assess users' ages due to concerns about having to submit any resulting data to the Federal Trade Commission.

The third point raised by employees centers on a lack of appropriate action from leadership. Workers say they informed senior leaders about these problems, but their responses were considered inadequate. The report notes that social media companies are legally obligated to report suspected child sexual abuse material and suspicions of illegal financial activity on their platforms.

Beyond these issues, the report also says there were internal concerns about young users being shown content related to suicide and self-harm, and that the platform was not taking sufficient steps to address this problem.

The company's app is among the most popular on the App Store and has a high proportion of teenage users. In response to the report, the company stated that the 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.”