Ofcom investigates TikTok under UK Online Safety Act

TL;DR: Ofcom opened an investigation into TikTok in the UK to assess whether the platform complies with the Online Safety Act by using effective age assurance systems to protect children from harmful content.

Ofcom launched an investigation into TikTok to assess whether the ByteDance-owned platform is meeting its obligations under the UK Online Safety Act to protect children from harmful digital content. The regulator said the probe will examine whether TikTok has implemented effective age assurance systems to determine if a user is underage and to prevent children from encountering harmful material online.

Ofcom said in its Age Assurance report, published the same day, that some age inference models, including those used by TikTok, may have failed to correctly identify a significant proportion of children. Ofcom said that if it finds compliance failures, it can impose fines of up to £18 million or 10% of global revenue, whichever is greater. In serious cases, the regulator can also order third parties such as payment providers, advertising services, or internet service providers to withdraw services or block access to the platform in the UK.

Ofcom said the investigation follows initial findings it published in May, when TikTok was the service most frequently cited by children as a source of harmful content. More than half of underage users who recalled seeing harmful content identified TikTok as the source, ahead of YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. At that time, Ofcom said personalised algorithm-driven feeds were a key route through which children encountered harmful material online, and said TikTok had not committed to significant changes in response to its demands. TikTok told Reuters it strictly enforces age-appropriate experiences through platform rules and age inference technologies and is confident it meets its Online Safety Act obligations.

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