TikTok regulatory and legal challenges

TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have faced legal and regulatory actions regarding user safety and platform security in different jurisdictions.

In the United Kingdom, TikTok agreed to pay a £12.7 million fine to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after withdrawing an appeal against a 2023 penalty. The regulator found the company failed to prevent children under 13 from using the platform and failed to protect their data during a period between 2018 and 2020. The company also withdrew an appeal regarding an information notice, allowing the ICO to continue investigating how the platform’s recommendation systems profile users aged 13 to 17.

In Brazil, the Court of Justice of Minas Gerais (TJMG) ordered ByteDance to pay R$ 10,000 in damages to a user following an account hack. The court overturned a previous ruling, finding the company liable for failing to act after being alerted that a hacked account was being used to promote cryptocurrency scams. While ByteDance argued the incident resulted from user password mismanagement, the court ruled the company was responsible due to its omission in failing to block the profile or assist in account recovery.