WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bipartisan group of lawmakers is calling on TikTok to strengthen its age verification systems and expand safeguards for children and teens using the platform.
Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Elise Stefanik of New York and Tom Suozzi of New York sent a letter Wednesday to TikTok CEO Adam Presser urging the company to adopt stricter measures to prevent underage users from accessing the app or bypassing existing protections.
“Tens of millions of TikTok users are under the age of 18… new users are only required to provide their date of birth with no actual way to prove whether the input is truthful,” the Members wrote. “It is critical that TikTok works to put in place commonsense, enforceable safeguards for its younger users.”
The lawmakers said current safeguards are insufficient and raised concerns about minors accessing inappropriate content or sharing sensitive information without adequate protections.
They also pointed to growing evidence linking heavy social media use among adolescents to mental health challenges, including depression, impulsivity and addiction-like behaviors.
In their letter, the lawmakers called on TikTok to require parental or guardian verification for users under 18 and to use existing data to better identify and prevent underage access. They also encouraged the company to work with major operating system developers to improve age verification and reduce the ability for users to circumvent safeguards.
The lawmakers said stronger protections would build on recent steps TikTok has taken to improve data security and user safety, while emphasizing the need for continued action to better protect minors online.
