UK launches investigation into TikTok over child safety concerns

UK’s media regulator, Ofcom, on Thursday launched an investigation into TikTok to ensure the compliance of the platform in protecting children from online harmful content.

The probe will look into whether Britain's TikTok unit “failed and is failing to protect the minors from obscene content under the Online Safety Act. Besides checking the compliance, the regulator also scrutinises whether the platform has adequate safety checks to assess whether the user is minor or not.

Earlier reports in May raised the concerns that TikTok does not have effective age inference models, and failed to identify children effectively, thereby exposing them to digital harm.

Ofcom clarified that opening an investigation is a procedural step and does not imply that any conclusion has been reached regarding a potential breach of duties by the provider.

The announcement comes a month after the UK decided to impose a strict social media ban for under-16s and imposed restrictions ​on gaming and live-streaming platforms, which is expected to be implemented in the next Spring.

Moreover, Britain’s Online Safety Act (OSA) obliged the social media platforms to put the “highly effective age assurance systems” in place for robust age verifications.

If found guilty of breaching the OSA, the Ofcom can impose a fine on TikTok up to £18 million or 10% of worldwide revenue. However, the platform has denied any occurrence of violations. 

"We strictly enforce age-appropriate experiences through expert-informed platform rules and ​advanced age inference technologies, in line with ​major ⁠industry peers," a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

"We are confident that we meet ⁠our ​Online Safety Act obligations and ​will work with Ofcom to demonstrate this."