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TikTok to pay £12.7 million fine in UK over child data protection
TikTok will pay a £12.7 million ($16.8 million) fine to the United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after the company withdrew its appeal against the 2023 penalty.
The regulator imposed the fine after determining that TikTok failed to take sufficient measures to prevent children under the age of 13 from using the platform and failed to protect their data. In 2020, it was estimated that up to 1.75 million children in the UK were using the service in violation of the company’s own age requirements.
TikTok has also withdrawn an appeal regarding an information notice that requested details on how the platform processes the personal data of users aged 13 to 17 within its recommendation systems. This withdrawal allows the ICO to proceed with its investigation into how these systems profile users and recommend content based on online activity.
A TikTok spokesperson noted that the findings relate to a historical period between May 2018 and July 2020 and do not reflect current safety policies.
Entities
Emily Keaney · Information Commissioner’s Office · TikTok · United Kingdom
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] TikTok failed to prevent children under 13 from creating profiles. www.heftig.de
- [○ 1 SOURCE] TikTok ignored rules regarding parental consent. www.heftig.de
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Up to 1.75 million British children under the minimum age used TikTok in 2020. www.heftig.de
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The fine covers the period between 2018 and 2020. www.heftig.de
- [○ 1 SOURCE] TikTok has since implemented various youth protection measures and policies. www.heftig.de