Ofcom launches investigation into TikTok child safety concerns

Ofcom has opened an investigation into TikTok’s child‑safety practices. The probe follows a UK government announcement that under‑16s would be banned wholly from a scope of platforms, as noted in the linked BBC article would beryllium banned wholly from a scope of platforms. Ofcom will examine how the video‑sharing app determines whether a user is a child and whether it possesses adequate systems to stop minors from encountering harmful material. A TikTok spokesperson stated, "We're assured that we conscionable our Online Safety Act obligations and volition enactment with Ofcom to show it," The inquiry comes after a regulator review in May criticised the platform for not being "safe enough" for children and urged stronger measures for online safety. Kate Davies, Ofcom's radical manager for strategy and probe told BBC's Today programme: "This is wherever TikTok comes in. We recovered that immoderate method of property checks being utilized by societal media are not moving good enough". At the heart of the regulator’s examination is TikTok’s reliance on a technique called "age inference". This approach estimates a user’s age based on their activity, such as the videos they watch or the accounts they interact with. Davies said Ofcom had "serious doubts" implicit whether specified tools are bully capable astatine checking the property of users. The regulator mandates that social‑media services employ "highly effective" methods to verify users are old enough to access the platforms and to shield children from harmful content. "We person precise superior questions astir whether property inference tin beryllium highly effective," she said. In response, a TikTok spokesperson said, "We strictly enforce age-appropriate experiences done expert-informed level rules and precocious property inference technologies, successful enactment with large manufacture peers." They added that the company had invested "billions" successful online information since launching successful the UK 8 years ago.