Ofcom has launched an investigation into TikTok over whether it provided inaccurate information about its parental controls.

The UK media regulator requested details from the Chinese-owned app, as well as fellow online video platforms Twitch and Snapchat, for a report into how they protect children.

While it was generally complimentary about the steps they take, Ofcom said it had “reason to believe” that TikTok provided “inaccurate” information about its family pairing system.

The feature allows adults to link their accounts to their children’s for control of settings like screen time limits.

Ofcom will now investigate whether the firm “failed to comply with its duties” by not responding appropriately.

TikTok blamed technical issues and said Ofcom was made aware, and that it would provide the necessary data.

A spokesperson said the platform enforced an age requirement of 13 and Ofcom’s report showed it puts “extensive effort and resources” into “finding and removing” those who do not meet it.

Tube Girl: How Sabrina Bahsoon became one of 2023’s biggest TikTok stars

TikTok’s most popular trends of 2023 – from the Roman Empire to Hot Girl Summer

TikTok influencer Mizzy detained at young offenders institution for posting social media videos without consent

Ofcom’s report comes two years after it issued guidance to video-sharing apps about how they must protect younger users from encountering harmful content.

It did not cover YouTube and Facebook as they fell under Irish jurisdiction – a legacy of EU rules the UK was still following after Brexit, but will gradually be superseded by the Online Safety Bill.

Ofcom’s report, published on Thursday, found TikTok, Snapchat, and Twitch all met the requirements it laid out two years ago.

They do not allow sign-ups from children under 13 and use various methods, including AI and human moderators, to identify potentially underage accounts and remove them.

For TikTok, this was around 1% of its monthly active UK user base.

Read more:
Fake AI images that have caught people out this year
UK spy agency reveals ‘toughest’ Christmas codebreaker

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

All three platforms also classify and label content to make sure it’s age-appropriate.

But while Snapchat and TikTok require users to have an account to access most content, Twitch is fully open.

On parental controls, it said Snapchat and TikTok offer them, but Twitch’s terms and conditions require parents to supervise their children in real time.

Ofcom said while it was satisfied steps were being taken to protect young users, they “can still sometimes face harm while using these platforms”.

Related posts:

Newly found ‘super-Earth’ could hold key to finding alien life Why the UK is still some way short of herd immunity despite impressive vaccine rollout Donald Trump to sue Facebook, Google, and Twitter chiefs NASA telescope discovers first possible planet outside of Milky Way galaxy Ending animal agriculture and planting trees on empty fields is ‘best chance’ to slow climate change, scientists say Remotely heated, magnetically-guided hot seeds could be used to burn out brain tumours Three scientists win Nobel chemistry prize for ‘snapping molecules together’ to design medicines Breakthrough laser beam used to successfully divert lightning strikes Musk tells Macron he had to ‘sleep in the car’ before meeting French president The ‘perfect’ man and woman – according to AI Distant exoplanet ‘could have water ocean and signs of life’ One of the worst invasive species could be heading to the UK due to global warming – study