The UK media regulator, Ofcom, has opened an investigation into TikTok to determine whether the platform is doing enough to protect children and prevent them from accessing harmful content.
The regulator said it will examine TikTok’s systems for identifying underage users and whether the platform has effective measures to stop children from viewing content that could put them at risk.
The investigation comes weeks after the UK government introduced online safety regulations, including plans to restrict social media access for users below 16.
Ofcom said the probe will focus on TikTok’s use of age-assurance systems, including technology that estimates a user’s age based on their activity on the platform.
The regulator has questioned whether these systems are reliable enough to meet the requirements of the Online Safety Act, which requires platforms to use highly effective methods to prevent children from accessing harmful material.
In May, Ofcom said that TikTok had not provided enough evidence of stronger measures to protect children online. The latest investigation does not mean the regulator has concluded that TikTok breached its obligations.
A TikTok spokesperson said the company follows strict safety rules for younger users and uses technology designed to create age-appropriate experiences.
“We strictly enforce age-appropriate experiences through expert-informed platform rules and advanced age inference technologies, in line with major industry peers,” the spokesperson said.
“We are confident that we meet our Online Safety Act obligations and will work with Ofcom to demonstrate this.”
Ofcom has already taken action against several websites over failures to comply with child safety requirements. The regulator said its enforcement work covers platforms that expose children to adult content and other harmful material.
TikTok said users in the UK are placed into age-appropriate settings for under-18s by default until the platform determines they are adults. Also, users who do not meet the minimum age requirement cannot create accounts by entering false birth details.
