NPR's investigation, drawing on depositions from a multistate lawsuit against TikTok, Meta, Google and Snap, reports that TikTok staff warned executives that minors were bypassing age restrictions and that some underage users were exploited via features like TikTok Live. A former safety employee, Reagan Maher, said she told senior leaders that 13-to-15-year-olds were accessing adult-oriented monetized tools. TikTok disputes the report, calling the material cherry-picked and pointing to over 50 youth-safety protections it has introduced.
cnet.com
· 2026-10-20
Deposition records cited by NPR show TikTok employees repeatedly warned executives about child safety failures, including minors appearing in Live streams where viewers could pay for 'gifts,' and said the company was aware of and profiting from such content. Staff also flagged a signup loophole letting minors bypass age checks via Facebook, Instagram or Google accounts, and a hidden link allowing teens to disable parental 'family pairing' controls. The documents emerged from ongoing lawsuits against TikTok over its handling of child safety; TikTok did not provide NPR an on-the-record response.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-20
TikTok has begun returning a 'no results found' page when users search for specific peptide names like semaglutide, BPC-157 and retratutide, though videos discussing peptides remain viewable and searchable under the general term. Influencer Jeff Tang flagged the change, and TikTok's parent company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-20
Court documents obtained by NPR show TikTok employees repeatedly warned executives about risks to minors, including sexual exploitation, exposure to suicide-related content, and minors bypassing age restrictions. The filings also indicate TikTok avoided surveying users' ages to prevent having to report results to the Federal Trade Commission. These depositions, filed in March 2026, are part of broader litigation against TikTok, Meta, Google and Snap over alleged harms to young users.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-20
Owners who bought laundromats after seeing TikTok videos promising easy passive income are describing a harsher reality to the Wall Street Journal, including costly repairs, long hours, drug activity and endless cleaning. Industry group CEO Brian Wallace notes a small laundromat costs about $300,000 with an average 24% profit margin, and says it is not a business you can run by just collecting quarters weekly.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-10-20
Annie, who relocated from the US to a town near London in late 2024 after her husband got a job offer, says the move fell short of expectations shaped by social media portrayals of British life. She cites maternity care issues with the NHS, lower disposable income, fewer household conveniences, and experiences of anti-American mockery, including at work. She and her husband now plan to move back to the US next summer, and report others who left America for Europe are having similar second thoughts.
wired.com
· 2026-10-20
Court records obtained by NPR show TikTok employees repeatedly raised internal alarms about risks to minors, including bypassing age restrictions and appearing in 'transactional sexual content' on TikTok Live that generated revenue for the platform. The depositions, filed in March as part of a 2022 multi-district lawsuit against TikTok, Meta, Snap and Google, include testimony from former safety officials Reagen Maher and Eric Han describing executives' slow response to their warnings.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-20
E.l.f. Beauty's fiscal 2026 annual sales climbed 25% to $1.64 billion, with the company now valued at $6.6 billion and most products priced at $10 or less. CFO Mandy Fields told CNBC that the company monitors social media comments and TikTok Lives to shape new product ideas, citing bronzing drops and a pickle-flavored lip balm as examples born from online requests and trends.
entrepreneur.com
· 2026-10-19
A TikTok account called WellWithHer is posting AI-generated images of weeping women alongside fabricated family text messages about secretly using GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide. The posts include screenshots of notifications from a medication-tracking app called Enzo, embedding product promotion within emotionally staged, fictional scenarios.
futurism.com
· 2026-10-19
TikTok has permanently suspended the advertising account promoting the documentary Musk, citing a repeated pattern of political content violating its policies, The Hollywood Reporter first reported. The ban comes just ahead of the film's wider US theatrical rollout on October 16, after its limited opening weekend grossed roughly $70,000 across four theaters. Distributor Bleecker Street says it will appeal the decision.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-18
TikTok has permanently suspended the advertising account for Bleecker Street's promotion of the Elon Musk documentary 'Musk,' citing political content, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film had already faced initial ad rejections from Meta and YouTube, which later allowed the ads, while X has refused to carry them at all. The four-hour documentary, directed by Alex Gibney, opened in four theaters last weekend and is expanding its release, with plans to stream on HBO next year.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-17
TikTok has banned the social media account promoting Alex Gibney's upcoming Musk documentary just before its wider release, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Distributor Bleecker Street was told Friday that a permanent suspension was coming, and TikTok has not responded to requests for comment. The move follows TikTok's earlier refusal, alongside X, to run paid ads for the film, even after YouTube and Meta reversed similar rejections.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-17
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