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The
Information Commissioner's Office said that there are growing
concerns around how social media platforms were using data
generated by children’s online activity to power their
recommendation algorithms, and the potential for young people to
see inappropriate or harmful content as a result.
The regulator said that it wanted to ensure the robustness of
TikTok's safety procedures when it comes to using the personal
information of teens ranging in age from 13 to 17.
“It’s what they’re collecting, it’s how they work,” information
commissioner John Edwards said. “I will expect to find that
there will be many benign and positive uses of children’s data
in their recommender systems."
“What I am concerned about is whether they are sufficiently
robust to prevent children being exposed to harm, either from
addictive practices on the device or the platform, or from
content that they see, or from other unhealthy practices,” he
said.
As part of the investigation, the regulator will also look into
how online forum site Reddit and image-sharing site Imgur use
children's personal data and how they estimate or verify a
child's age.
TikTok, which is operated by Chinese technology firm ByteDance,
said in a statement that it was “deeply committed to ensuring a
positive experience for young people on TikTok.”
“Our recommender systems are designed and operate under strict
and comprehensive measures that protect the privacy and safety
of teens, including industry-leading safety features and robust
restrictions on the content allowed in teens’ feeds," it said.
In 2023, the regulator imposed a fine of 12.7 million pounds
(about $16 million) on the video sharing app for misusing
children's data and violating other protections for young users'
personal information.
The office said at the time that TikTok didn’t adequately
identify and remove children under 13 from the platform, and
that it allowed as many as 1.4 million children in the U.K.
under 13 to use the app in 2020, despite the platform’s own
rules prohibiting children that young from setting up accounts.
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