TikTok fined £12.7m for ‘letting 1.4m underage children in UK use app’

Chinese-owned app ‘should have known better’ says UK information commissioner

TikTok has received a £12.7m fine from UK regulators because it “failed to use children’s personal data lawfully” and “did not do enough” to prevent underage children from using its platform.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said the Chinese-owned social media app failed to get parental consent for up to 1.4 million UK children under 13 among its users despite its own rules not allowing children that age to create an account.

“There are laws in place to make sure our children are as safe in the digital world as they are in the physical world. TikTok did not abide by those laws,” said information commissioner John Edwards.