TikTok · AI Safety · BBC Technology
TikTok runs into Ofcom investigation over child age checks
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An investigation has been launched into whether TikTok is doing enough to keep children off its platform.
Key facts
- Under the Online Safety Act's (OSA) protection of children's codes, which took effect on 25 July last year, sites with such content must use methods such as face scans to check a UK visitor
- Midnight social media curfew proposed for UK teens aged 16 and 17
- The probe by media regulator Ofcom comes a month after the UK government announced that under-16's would be banned entirely from a range of platforms
- Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation (MRF), welcomed Ofcom's investigation
Summary
The probe by media regulator Ofcom comes a month after the UK government announced that under-16's would be banned entirely from a range of platforms. Ofcom will examine how the video-sharing app assesses if a user is a child and whether it has adequate systems to prevent children from viewing harmful content. "We're confident that we meet our Online Safety Act obligations and will work with Ofcom to demonstrate it," a TikTok spokesperson said. It follows a review by regulator in May which criticised the platform for not being "safe enough" for children and called for stronger action on children's online safety.