Senators press TikTok on 'sinister' experiment that held back an algorithm safety feature

A teen who died by suicide was reportedly part of the test. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images TikTok is facing a new round of questions about its safety record and how its algorithm has fueled problematic "filter bubbles." Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal sent a sharply worded letter to the company's top exe

The company withheld an algorithmic safeguard from roughly 15 million users, including minors, according to a confidential internal document.

The safeguard was designed to prevent users from being overwhelmed by harmful content, but TikTok wanted to determine whether it made the app less engaging.