Now unsealed internal TikTok documents reveal the company was aware of the systematic exploitation of minors on its livestreaming feature, according to a Utah state lawsuit.

The documents, released following a December 19 ruling by Utah state judge Coral Sanchez, detail findings from multiple internal investigations, referencing employee communications and compliance reports. In particular, “Project Meramec” discovered in early 2022 that hundreds of thousands of users aged 13 to 15 had circumvented TikTok Live’s minimum age restrictions.

Utah’s Division of Consumer Protection, which filed the original lawsuit in June, claims many of these minors were subsequently “groomed” to perform sexual acts, sometimes involving nudity, in exchange for virtual gifts on the platform.

A separate internal investigation dubbed “Project Jupiter” in 2021 found evidence of criminal activity on Live, including money laundering, drug sales, and terrorism funding. Additionally, a December 2023 internal study acknowledged what TikTok terms “the cruelty” of maintaining Live given its current risks for minors.

However, TikTok has disputed these characterizations, with a company spokesperson telling FOX 13 News on Jan. 3 that the lawsuit “cherry-picks misleading quotes and outdated documents and presents them out of context.” The company stressed implementing “proactive measures” to support community safety.

Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes stated the “full extent of [TikTok’s] culpability can be demonstrated at trial.”

Running the Legal Gauntlet

The revelations come as TikTok faces broader regulatory challenges. A coalition of 14 state attorneys general filed lawsuits against TikTok in October, accusing the company of damaging young users’ mental health and collecting data from children under 13 without parental consent. In August, the Justice Department sued TikTok over allegations of “unlawfully” collecting children’s data and impeding parental control over accounts.

Additionally, the platform faces a potential nationwide ban starting January 19 unless its owner, ByteDance, sells the app.

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on January 10 regarding a potential stay of the ban, which was authorized by President Joe Biden in April 2023 amid concerns about data sharing with the Chinese government.