United Kingdom launches investigation into TikTok over child protection concerns

The British media and telecommunications regulator (Ofcom) announced Thursday that it was launching an investigation into TikTok to determine whether it has failed to meet its obligations to "protect children from exposure to harmful content."

"This investigation will seek to establish whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that TikTok has failed, or is failing, to meet its legal obligations, in particular by using a highly effective age verification system to correctly determine whether or not a user is a minor," Ofcom stated on its website.

In the crosshairs of British authorities

Already in the crosshairs of British authorities, the video-sharing platform, owned by the Chinese group ByteDance, is facing a growing number of sanctions and restrictions worldwide.

Two years ago, the same regulator imposed a fine of nearly two million pounds ($2.7 million) on the platform for failing to provide the requested information regarding its parental control feature in a timely manner.

The previous year, the platform had received another, higher fine, of 12.7 million pounds ($17 million) from the British data protection authority, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), for the "illegal" use of minors' personal information.

"The opening of an investigation does not mean that Ofcom has concluded that the provider has breached its obligations," the regulator stated on Thursday, noting, however, that it may impose fines of up to 10% of the company's global revenue.