Ofcom has launched a formal investigation into TikTok over fears that its age verification systems are failing to protect children from harmful content including posts about suicide, self-harm and pornography.
The regulator said it had “particular concerns” about the platform’s use of “age inference” technology, which estimates a user’s age based on behaviour such as the videos they watch or people they interact with. Ofcom said this method may have failed to correctly identify “a significant proportion of children”, leaving them exposed to harmful material.
“Ofcom investigates TikTok over age checks failing to protect children from suicide, self-harm and pornography content.”
“We have very serious questions about whether age inference can be highly effective,” Kate Davies, Ofcom’s group director for strategy and research, told the BBC’s Today programme.
The investigation comes almost a year after measures to protect children under the Online Safety Act took effect on 25 July last year. Those rules require platforms with adult content to use “highly effective” methods such as face scans to verify a user’s age. Ofcom has already fined dozens of adult sites for non-compliance and is now turning its attention to social media.
A TikTok spokesperson said: “We strictly enforce age-appropriate experiences through expert-informed platform rules and advanced age inference technologies, in line with major industry peers.” The company said it had invested “billions” in online safety since launching in the UK eight years ago, and added: “We’re confident that we meet our Online Safety Act obligations and will work with Ofcom to demonstrate it.”
The regulator’s probe follows a review in May that criticised TikTok for not being “safe enough” for children. It also comes a month after the UK government announced plans to ban under-16s from a range of social media platforms early next year, increasing scrutiny on how tech companies verify ages.
If found in breach, TikTok could face fines of up to £18m or 10% of its qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater. Ofcom can also apply to have sites blocked or restricted in the UK in the most serious cases. The regulator said it had not reached any conclusions, but the outcome of the investigation could set a precedent for how social media platforms police age checks and protect young users online.
