US senators slam TikTok for refusing to release algorithm document tied to teen’s death

Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal have torn into TikTok after the company refused to hand over a confidential internal document detailing an algorithm experiment that stripped safety features from roughly 15 million US users. The bipartisan pair called TikTok’s stonewalling “appalling” and “offensive,” escalating what has become one of the most damaging revelations about the platform’s internal practices to date. The document in question relates to an experiment in which TikTok deliberately withheld a feature designed to break up harmful content echo chambers from approximately 10% of its US user base. The purpose, according to the senators’ letter dated August 20, 2026: measuring how the absence of that safety guardrail affected engagement metrics. The experiment and the teenager who didn’t survive it The experiment gained public attention after reporting on August 4, 2026, connected it to the death of 16-year-old Chase Nasca. Nasca was part of a control group in the test, meaning he used TikTok without the safety feature that was supposed to interrupt streams of distressing content. In the two weeks before his death, Nasca watched more than 7,500 videos. Of those, ...