LONDON: TikTok, the popular Chinese-owned social media platform, has been fined £12.7 million ($15.9 million) by the UK’s data regulator for allowing children under the age of 13 years to use its Platform in violation of its own rules.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found that up to 1.4 million children under 13 had used TikTok without parental consent, which breaches UK law. The ICO stated that TikTok had failed to obtain the consent of parents and guardians to use the children’s data after they had set up accounts despite being too young.
In response, TikTok has disputed the ICO’s findings, stating that it invests heavily to keep under-13s off the Platform and that its safety team works around the clock to keep the Platform safe for the community.
However, the company welcomed the ICO’s decision to reduce the fine from £27 million, which the regulator had previously warned it might impose.
TikTok fails to carry out adequate checks
TikTok’s terms of service do not permit children under 13 to set up accounts. But the ICO said that TikTok had failed to carry out adequate checks to prevent children under 13 from using the Platform in the UK, and up to 1.4 million children were affected in 2020.
The regulator warned that this breach could have led to the children’s data being used to track and profile them, potentially delivering harmful and inappropriate content.
Information Commissioner John Edwards said that laws are in place to ensure that children are as safe in the digital space as they are in the physical world.
He emphasized that TikTok did not abide by those laws and that the ICO’s decision to fine the company sends a clear message that they will take action to protect children’s data privacy.
TikTok has faced a wave of bans by Western governments on its use on official devices, citing concerns that Beijing could access the data.
The fine in the UK is the latest in a series of challenges for the company, which has come under scrutiny from regulators worldwide.
