UK regulators to investigate TikTok

Telecoms regulator Ofcom has opened an investigation into TikTok over concerns that it has breached the Online Safety Act.

Under the Online Safety Act, social media companies that do not ban harmful content, and those at higher risk of it being shared on their service, must use highly effective age checks to identify who their child users are to protect them from harmful content on their service.

Harmful content includes a range of issues, including pornography, eating disorders, self-harm, and suicide content.  

TikTok currently uses a type of age assurance known as ‘age inference’. This involves analysing a user’s activity and behaviour on a platform to estimate whether they are a child or an adult.

“Age inference is not included in our industry guidance as a method that is capable of being highly effective for this purpose. Our Age Assurance report published today also raises serious doubts about the effectiveness of some of these models,” Ofcom said in an accompanying statement.

“Our evidence suggests that, in some cases, age inference methods may be failing to correctly detect significant numbers of children, putting them at risk of exposure to harmful content.”

In light of these concerns, Ofcom said it has opened an investigation to establish whether TikTok’s age checks are effective in preventing children from encountering harmful content on its platform.

Should Ofcom ultimately identify compliance failings, the regulator has the power to impose fines of up to £18m or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue.

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