U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal have given TikTok until September 1 to answer questions about an experiment that withheld an algorithmic safety feature from about 15 million U.S. users. The control group included minors, among them a 16-year-old who later died by suicide after receiving large amounts of content about sadness, loneliness, and suicide.
Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, and Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, sent a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Chew and Adam Presser, CEO of TikTok’s U.S. business. The senators called the decision to run the experiment “depraved.”
TikTok Disabled a Safety Measure for 10% of U.S. Users
According to Bloomberg, TikTok intentionally disabled an algorithmic safeguard for 10% of its U.S. users to create a control group.
The safeguard was designed to reduce the risk of users being repeatedly shown harmful material. TikTok reportedly wanted to test whether the feature reduced engagement, so it compared users who had the protection with users who did not.
One person placed in the control group was 16-year-old Chase Nasca. According to the report, TikTok’s recommendation system showed him thousands of videos related to sadness, suicide, and loneliness before his death by suicide.
Senators Are Seeking Details About Who Approved the Experiment
Blackburn and Blumenthal are asking TikTok to respond to 13 questions about the test. Their requests include the names of employees who knew about the experiment and an explanation of why minors were allowed to participate in the control group.
The senators also want TikTok to provide a list of every U.S. algorithmic experiment in which the company disabled or delayed a safety feature. Their questions seek more detail about how the company evaluates potential risks before testing changes that affect safety systems.
The letter gives TikTok until September 1 to provide its responses. TikTok had not publicly answered the senators’ questions at the time of the report.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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