Attorney General Hanaway Launches Investigation into TikTok’s Impact on Missouri Children
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Today, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced a formal investigation into TikTok, Inc., to determine whether the company has deceived families, exploited young users, or put children at risk through its platform’s design and operation.
“Parents deserve the truth about how TikTok interacts with their children, how the platform identifies underage users, and what content it pushes into their feeds,” said Attorney General Hanaway. “If TikTok has misled families, concealed risks, or engineered features that harm Missouri children, our office will act without hesitation.”
The Attorney General’s Office has issued a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) requiring TikTok to disclose how its algorithm selects and promotes content for children, including material delivered through the platform’s primary recommendation method. Recent reporting has raised additional questions about how such systems evaluate watch time, reactions, and other signals in ways that may push inappropriate or harmful content to young users. The CID requires TikTok to explain the operation of these technologies on TikTok and TikTok for Younger Users.
Additionally, the Attorney General is seeking information about TikTok’s strategies to attract, retain, and increase activity among young users. This includes business strategies, internal discussions, and communications that reveal whether TikTok designed its features to hold the attention of younger users or increase screen time. TikTok must answer for its handling of dangerous online challenges, the presence of fake or inauthentic accounts, and any coordination with outside organizations involved in youth safety. The demand also seeks details about product testing, experiments conducted on young users, and any internal analysis of how these features influence behavior.
The investigation will examine how TikTok collects and uses data from children under 13, minors under 18, and young adults under 24. As part of that inquiry, the Attorney General is demanding information on the company’s internal methods for determining a user’s age, the rules and safeguards TikTok claims to apply to its younger audience, and the actual enforcement of those policies. TikTok must also produce its internal research into how children engage with the platform, including any studies on youth mental health, problematic use, and exposure to harmful material.
Under Missouri law, TikTok must comply with the CID and produce all required documents and information by November 13, 2026. Failure to comply may result in legal penalties. Missourians who have concerns about harmful or deceptive practices on social media platforms are encouraged to file a complaint at ago.mo.gov.
A copy of the CID sent to TikTok is available here.
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