Overview
- Ofcom opened a formal investigation on Thursday, July 16, to assess whether TikTok is meeting its duties under the Online Safety Act to keep children away from harmful content.
- The probe targets TikTok’s age‑inference system, which estimates age from user behavior, after Ofcom said it has serious doubts that the method detects significant numbers of children reliably.
- Ofcom’s Age Assurance Report shows rapid rollout of checks since the law took effect, noting 69 million age checks across 32 services and a rise in children encountering 'highly effective' checks from 25% to 43%.
- The regulator warned persistent gaps remain: dozens of popular porn sites still lack age checks and many appear on Google and Bing first‑page results, and search engines are now working with Ofcom on discoverability fixes.
- If breaches are found, firms face fines up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue, and Ofcom will publish binding guidance on 'highly effective' checks to Parliament by October and an app‑store age‑verification report by January 2027.