UK watchdog fined video app in 2023 for failing to enforce minimum age limit and remove underage users

TikTok will pay a £12.7m fine to the UK’s data watchdog after dropping an appeal against a ruling that it did not do enough to keep children below the age of 13 off the platform.

The video app was punished by the Information Commissioner’s Office in 2023 for inadequate checks of who was using the platform, and failing to remove underage users.

When issuing the fine the ICO said TikTok had done “very little, if anything” to address underage use of its service.

TikTok has a minimum user age of 13 but failure to enforce that limit resulted in up to 1.75 million UK children under 13 using the service in 2020, the ICO said. TikTok also failed to provide users with information about how their data was being collected and used, and neglected to obtain parental consent.

Emily Keaney, the ICO’s deputy commissioner, said: “Our successful action against TikTok shows how important it is for companies to have the right protections in place, including to prevent access by children who are not old enough to be using their services.”

Chinese-owned TikTok said it disagreed with the ruling but had decided to pay the fine because it related to a period between 2018 and 2020, after which it had implemented “many youth safety measures and policies”.

TikTok, which has more than 30m users in the UK, has also withdrawn an appeal against an ICO request for information about how its algorithm processes teenagers’ personal data – and how it serves potentially harmful content.

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