TikTok drops appeal, pays £12.7m UK fine for failing to protect underage users

Fine Payment Confirmed

TikTok has agreed to pay a £12.7 million fine issued by the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The company dropped its appeal against the ruling, which found that TikTok failed to adequately prevent children under the age of 13 from accessing its platform and did not properly handle their data.

The fine was initially imposed in 2023 following an investigation into TikTok's practices between 2018 and 2020. During this period, the ICO stated that TikTok did "very little, if anything" to address the presence of underage users on its service.

Underage User Violations

The ICO's findings indicated that TikTok, despite having a minimum user age of 13, had up to 1.75 million UK children under 13 using the service in 2020. The platform also failed to provide these users with information about how their data was collected and used, and did not obtain parental consent.

Emily Keaney, the ICO’s deputy commissioner, emphasized the importance of companies having proper protections to prevent access by children who are not old enough to use their services.

TikTok's Response and Further Investigations

TikTok stated its disagreement with the ruling but decided to pay the fine, noting that the period in question was between 2018 and 2020, after which it claims to have implemented "many youth safety measures and policies."

In addition to paying the fine, TikTok has also withdrawn an appeal against an ICO request for information regarding how its algorithm processes teenagers’ personal data and serves potentially harmful content. The ICO confirmed it would now resume this investigation.

Broader Industry Context

This case highlights increasing scrutiny on age-checking measures for tech platforms. The UK government is set to introduce a new under-16 age limit for accessing social media platforms next year. Ofcom, the UK's communications watchdog, has called for more action from the tech industry to enforce age limits.

Similar challenges have been observed in other countries, such as Australia, where a social media ban for under-16s introduced last December has seen a "substantial proportion" of underage users bypass age-gating mechanisms.