Overview
- Ofcom opened a formal investigation on Thursday to find out whether TikTok’s UK unit failed or is failing to protect children from harmful content by using inadequate age-verification and safety systems.
- The probe will examine TikTok’s use of age inference models that guess users’ ages from activity and whether those models meet the Online Safety Act standard for “highly effective” age assurance.
- In May Ofcom said TikTok had not set out meaningful steps to protect British children, and regulators now want evidence that the platform has fixed those shortcomings.
- If Ofcom finds breaches of the law it can impose penalties ordered by the Online Safety Act, including fines up to £18 million or 10% of worldwide revenue.
- TikTok had not offered an immediate public comment and the regulator said the inquiry is an initial fact-finding step with an update on the investigation expected in October.