From TechCrunch · Amanda Silberling · · 1m 20s
TikTok US joins child safety network Lantern
TikTok's newly independent US unit is joining a cross-platform initiative to combat child exploitation by sharing data with competitors.
In brief
TikTok's newly independent US unit is joining a cross-platform initiative to combat child exploitation by sharing data with competitors. TikTok US is committing to industry-wide child safety collaboration and investing $2 million in modernizing the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's reporting system…
TikTok US joins Lantern network
Eight months after spinning out as an independent entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture is joining Lantern, a cross-platform child safety program launched by the Tech Coalition in 2023.
How Lantern works
Lantern helps social media companies securely share signals of harmful behavior to identify bad actors moving across platforms. Through 2025, members shared over 2 million signals of potentially violating behavior.
Major tech companies already involved
Lantern members include Google, X, Snap, Twitch, Anthropic, Meta, Discord, Microsoft, Apple, Roblox, Reddit, and more. TikTok US joining makes sense given most competitors already participate.
TikTok commits $2 million to NCMEC
TikTok US is investing $2 million to help the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children modernize its CyberTipline system with advanced search and automation tools.
Three-year modernization project
The NCMEC CyberTipline project costs $10 million total and will take three years. Partners like AWS, Microsoft, and Palantir are also contributing resources alongside TikTok's $2 million.
“This investment will help NCMEC deploy advanced search, automation, and analysis tools to detect harm sooner, cut manual processing times in half, and accelerate actionable reports to law enforcement when a child's safety is on the line.”
The key point
TikTok US is committing to industry-wide child safety collaboration and investing $2 million in modernizing the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's reporting system.
