US senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal sharply criticized TikTok after the company refused to release an internal document about an algorithm experiment that stripped safety features from roughly 15 million US users. The experiment was linked to the death of 16-year-old Chase Nasca, who was part of the control group without the safety feature; in the two weeks before his death, he watched over 7,500 videos, with 73% dealing with sadness or personal struggles and 10% violating TikTok’s own policies on suicide and self-harm content. The senators sent a letter on August 20, 2026, containing 13 specific questions with a deadline of September 1, 2026. TikTok had not publicly responded to the letter as of reporting.
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