TikTok is under formal investigation in the UK over concerns that its age-checking systems are failing to protect children from harmful content, the media regulator Ofcom has announced.
The probe comes a month after the government said it would ban under-16s from a range of platforms entirely, and almost a year after child protection measures under the Online Safety Act took effect. Ofcom had already criticised TikTok in a May review for not being “safe enough” for children, calling for stronger action.
“Ofcom investigates TikTok over ineffective age checks, risking children's exposure to self-harm and other harmful content.”
At the heart of the investigation is TikTok’s use of “age inference” technology, which estimates a user’s age based on signals such as the videos they watch, their nickname, biography, voice or facial features. Kate Davies, Ofcom’s group director for strategy and research, told the BBC’s Today programme: “We found that some method of age checks being used by social media are not working well enough.” She added that the regulator had “serious doubts” about whether such tools can be “highly effective”.
Ofcom said TikTok’s methods may have failed to identify “a significant proportion of children”, putting them at risk of exposure to content about disordered eating, self-harm, suicide and pornography. The regulator has not reached final conclusions, but compliance failures could lead to fines of up to £18m or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater.
A TikTok spokesperson said: “We’re confident that we meet our Online Safety Act obligations and will work with Ofcom to demonstrate it.” The company said it strictly enforces age-appropriate experiences “through expert-informed platform rules and advanced age inference technologies, in line with major industry peers”, and has invested “billions” in online safety since launching in the UK eight years ago.
The investigation is part of a broader crackdown under the Online Safety Act, which requires sites with adult content to use methods such as face scans for age verification. Ofcom has already issued large fines against dozens of adult sites for non-compliance. Now scrutiny is turning to social media platforms, with Instagram also using similar age inference technology.
With the government preparing to launch a social media ban for under-16s early next year, the pressure on TikTok – and other platforms – to prove their age checks are robust is only set to intensify.