TikTok has been fined £12.7 million ($16 million) because it “did not do enough” to keep underage children from using the platform and failed to ensure their data was protected, UK privacy regulators have said.
The Information Commissioner’s Office said about 1.4 million children under the age of 13 used the social media platform in 2020, which was against TikTok's terms of service.
The regulator initially said the platform faced a £27 million fine.
TikTok has contested the decision and said it would consider its options.
The regulator reduced the fine announced in September last year after deciding not to pursue an initial finding that the company unlawfully used “special category data”.
Special data includes ethnic and racial origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, trade union membership, genetic and biometric data or health data.
But it upheld its findings that TikTok failed to ensure users under 13 had permission from their parents or carers to use the platform.
It also did not carry out adequate checks to identify and remove these users despite concerns being raised to senior staff members.
“There are laws in place to make sure our children are as safe in the digital world as they are in the physical world. TikTok did not abide by those laws,” said UK Information Commissioner John Edwards.
“As a consequence, an estimated one million under-13s were inappropriately granted access to the platform, with TikTok collecting and using their personal data."
Their data may have been used to track and profile them, "potentially delivering harmful, inappropriate content at their very next scroll", he said.
“TikTok should have known better. TikTok should have done better. Our £12.7 million fine reflects the serious impact their failures may have had," he said.
TikTok said it invested heavily to help keep children under 13 from using the platform and "our 40,000-strong safety team works around the clock to help keep the platform safe for our community".
“While we disagree with the ICO’s decision, which relates to May 2018 – July 2020, we are pleased that the fine announced today has been reduced to under half the amount proposed last year," it said.
“We will continue to review the decision and are considering next steps.”
