TikTok's U.S. arm, known as TikTok USDS Joint Venture, has joined Lantern, a cross-platform child safety initiative launched by a coalition of tech companies. Lantern helps social media platforms share signals of harmful behavior to identify and stop bad actors.
Since its launch, Lantern has seen participant companies sharing over 2 million signals of potentially violating behavior by 2025. Marc Leone, director of Lantern, emphasized the importance of cross-platform collaboration in combating child sexual exploitation and abuse.
TikTok's U.S. venture has been reporting to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)’s CyberTipline, as required by U.S. law, when it becomes aware of child sexual abuse material and other threats to children's safety. The company has now committed $2 million to NCMEC's efforts to modernize its CyberTipline, aiming to deploy advanced search, automation, and analysis tools to detect harm sooner.
This investment is part of a three-year project costing $10 million, with partners like AWS, Microsoft, and Palantir contributing resources to NCMEC.
