Media regulator Ofcom has launched a formal investigation into whether TikTok is doing enough to keep children off its platform, in a significant escalation of scrutiny over social media sites’ age verification practices.
The probe comes a month after the government announced that under-16s would be banned entirely from a range of social media platforms, and follows a May review in which Ofcom criticised TikTok for not being “safe enough” for children.
At the heart of the investigation is TikTok’s use of “age inference” technology — a system that estimates a user’s age based on their behaviour on the platform, such as the videos they watch or the accounts they interact with, rather than through direct verification such as face scans or identity checks.
Kate Davies, Ofcom’s group director for strategy and research, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This is where TikTok comes in. We found that some methods of age checks being used by social media are not working well enough.” She said the regulator had “very serious questions about whether age inference can be highly effective.”
TikTok pushed back, saying it “strictly enforces age-appropriate experiences through expert-informed platform rules and advanced age inference technologies, in line with major industry peers,” and that it had invested “billions” in online safety since launching in the UK eight years ago. A spokesperson added: “We’re confident that we meet our Online Safety Act obligations and will work with Ofcom to demonstrate it.”
What Ofcom Requires
Under its rules, social media platforms must use “highly effective” methods to verify users are old enough to access their services and to prevent children from encountering harmful material. Ofcom’s investigation will examine how TikTok assesses whether a user is a child and whether its systems adequately block harmful content from younger viewers.
The regulator has already been taking action against adult content sites under the Protection of Children’s Codes, which took effect last July, issuing large fines against dozens of platforms over suspected or proven non-compliance with requirements to use methods such as face scans to verify users are over 18.
The Wider Picture
TikTok is not alone in using age inference technology — Instagram also deploys it among other methods to identify users who may be children misrepresenting their age. Instagram says UK users are placed into age-appropriate settings for under-18s by default until they are understood to be an adult.
The investigation signals that Ofcom is now extending its enforcement focus from adult content sites to mainstream social media platforms — and that age inference alone is unlikely to satisfy the regulator’s definition of “highly effective” age verification.
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