TikTok’s “depraved” test used kids as guinea pigs. One of them died.

An internal TikTok report obtained by Bloomberg found that the company used millions of its users as unwitting test subjects. One of those users, who was fed a constant stream of videos about suicide, depression, and self-harm, took his own life. He was 16. (Photo by May Gauthier on Unsplash)

Aug. 20, 2026 — A recently published investigation by reporters at Bloomberg found that TikTok used its customers as test subjects without their knowledge or consent in an experiment that went horribly awry.

In early 2022, the social media giant purposely excluded 10 percent of its U.S. users from an algorithmic safety update. That left as many as 15 million people without the upgraded protection. TikTok officials did this to basically see what would happen: To compare the experience of those with the safety update to those without.

One of those without was Chase Nasca, a 16-year-old boy from New York who took his own life in Feb. 2022.

According to an internal TikTok document uncovered by the Bloomberg team, the company’s confidential 2023 review of the incident found that Nasca’s account had become trapped in a filter bubble that kept feeding him videos about suicide, hopelessness, self-harm, and depression.

Because he was part of the control group that did not receive the safety update, the report said, TikTok’s tool meant to halt those recommendations "did not take effect on this user by design."

The safeguard was specifically meant to break up online echo chambers of harmful content.

U.S. Senators call tiktok to account

The Bloomberg report has sparked outrage among elected leaders who have been outspoken advocates for child online safety.

On Capitol Hill, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter on Wednesday to TikTok executives demanding to know more about the outrageous experiment. The full letter can be read here.

The senators called TikTok’s decision to conduct the test “depraved.”

“We write regarding disgusting new reports that TikTok knowingly withheld a critical safety measure for millions of American users—including children—in order to determine whether protecting users would impact its financial bottom-line,” the four-page letter said. The Bloomberg story, they added, raises “serious questions about TikTok’s repeated assurances to Congress, parents and the American public that it prioritizes the safety and well-being of young people over profit.”

Internal memo: kids used as unwitting a/b test subjects

The internal TikTok report, which is contained within documents pertinent to the ongoing social media addiction trials, reportedly revealed why the safety setting remained turned off for 10 percent of users.

“The user impact decision,” the document reads, “was a delicate balance across safety and the ability to measure impact on DAU (daily active users) and core metrics.”

‘sinister’ revelations, senators say

In their letter to TikTok executives, Sen. Blackburn and Sen. Blumenthal wrote:

“These revelations are appalling, but they are made even more sinister because TikTok was on notice about the effects of its recommendation algorithms on children. In 2021, we spearheaded a series of hearings examining the repeated failures of social media companies to protect children online.”

“On October 26, 2021, our Subcommittee on Consumer Protection convened a hearing at which TikTok testified before Congress about the safety of its platform. At that time, we raised concerns that social media platforms were prioritizing engagement and profit over the safety of children and that recommendation algorithms could drive young users into increasingly extreme and harmful content. Those concerns were not hypothetical.”

They called the latest revelations part of a “troubling pattern” of continuing to push “substantial harms” on its platform “while publicly promoting purported safety measures.”

The letter demands answers from TikTok officials by Tuesday, Sept. 1.

Read the full letter

Click on the image below to read the letter from Sen. Blackburn and Sen. Blumenthal.

Learn more about ai and kids