UK regulator Ofcom opens investigation into TikTok over child safety concerns

UK TikTok user must be aged over 13

Solen Feyissa, Unsplash

TikTok is being investigated by UK media regulator Ofcom over whether the social media giant is doing enough to keep children off its platform.

Ofcom announced today it will be examining how TikTok assesses if a user is a child and whether it has adequate systems to prevent children from viewing harmful content.

The investigation follows Ofcom’s review of the steps taken by major platforms to protect children online and the publication of its report into the experience of children online, which highlighted concerns about children being exposed to harmful content on TikTok as well as YouTube.

In addition, the Age Assurance report, published today, suggests that in some cases age inference models, such as those used by TikTok, may have failed to correctly identify a significant proportion of children, putting them at risk of exposure to harmful content.

The investigation will seek to establish whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that TikTok has failed, or is failing, to comply with its legal obligations set out in the Online Safety Act 2023, which came into effect on July 25 last year.

Currently, a TikTok user must be at least 13 years old to create and hold an account in the UK.

If Ofcom were to identify compliance failures, it can impose fines of up to £18m (US$24m) or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater.

In the most serious cases of non-compliance, and where appropriate given risks of harm to individuals in the UK, Ofcom can seek a court order to require third parties to take action to disrupt the business of the provider.

This may require third parties to withdraw services from, or block access to, a regulated service in the UK. Ofcom said it will provide an update on the TikTok investigation in October.

A TikTok spokesperson told BBC News: “We’re confident that we meet our Online Safety Act obligations and will work with Ofcom to demonstrate it.”

The news comes after the UK government announced in June that under-16s in the UK would be banned entirely from a range of social media platforms, including TikTok, while this week it proposed a midnight social media curfew for teens aged 16 and 17.

The UK government also wants addictive features such as auto-play and infinite scroll to be set to be disabled as it seeks to improve teenagers’ focus, sleep quality and family life.

Meanwhile, research by video-editing company Kapwing found that nearly 60% of TikToks served to children are “AI slop.”

Kapwing said the scale at which children are being targeted with low-quality content, ranging from “nonsense brainrot” to “dangerously inaccurate songs and lessons,” is “staggering.”

Meanwhile, YouTube is still recommending eating disorder videos to teenage users a year after new rules were introduced to curb harmful online content, according to recent research by The Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).

YouTube owner Google told BBC News it had a “steadfast” commitment to stopping the spread of harmful content and the videos highlighted in the report had been removed.