UK opens probe into TikTok’s child safety measures

UK regulator Ofcom investigates TikTok over whether it is doing enough to protect children from harmful online content

LONDON: Britain’s communications regulator on Thursday launched an investigation into whether social media platform TikTok is doing enough under UK law to protect children from harmful content online.

“This investigation will seek to establish whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that TikTok has failed, or is failing, to comply with its legal obligations,” Ofcom said in a statement.

It added that it would in particular look at TikTok’s age verification model.

In response, TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, said it was “confident” that it met obligations set out by Britain’s Online Safety Act, introduced last year to toughen laws around children’s online safety.

“We strictly enforce age-appropriate experiences through expert-informed platform rules and advanced age inference technologies, in line with major industry peers,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

The Safety Act aims to prevent minors from encountering harmful content relating to suicide, self-harm, eating disorders and pornography.

Tech firms must also protect children from misogynistic, violent, hateful or abusive material, online bullying and dangerous dares or challenges.

Rule-breakers face fines of up to £18 million ($24 million) or 10 percent of their revenue.