Ofcom has opened a formal investigation into whether TikTok is failing to protect children from harmful content, escalating a dispute that has been running in public since May.
The probe, announced on Thursday, examines two things under the Online Safety Act: whether TikTok has adequate measures to work out that a given user is a child, and whether it has the systems and processes to keep children from encountering harmful material once it knows.
Ofcom has said some of the age-check systems TikTok uses may have failed to identify a significant proportion of children correctly.
Opening an investigation is not a finding. Ofcom is explicit that it has reached no conclusion about whether TikTok has breached its duties, and the company will have the chance to respond before anything is decided.
The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!The regulator has taken the same step against Telegram, X, and Grok, and has opened investigations into close to 100 services since the Act came into force.
