UK probes TikTok’s child safety measures

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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.

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“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.

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

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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.

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“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.

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

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

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

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AFP

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