TikTok Drops Appeal Against £12.7 Million UK Privacy Fine Over Underage Users

TikTok has withdrawn its appeal against a £12.7 million fine issued by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, concluding a dispute over the platform's failure to prevent underage access. The penalty stems from findings that the company failed to adequately verify user ages or remove children under 13 from the service between 2018 and 2020.

The company stated it disagreed with the original ruling but opted to pay the fine because the violations occurred before the implementation of its current youth safety measures.

Scale of Underage Access

UK Information Commissioner

The UK regulator previously estimated that up to 1.75 million underage users accessed the platform in 2020. The ICO determined that the company failed to secure parental consent or provide transparent disclosures regarding data collection practices for these users.

Emily Keaney, the ICO’s deputy commissioner, said the enforcement action highlights the necessity for companies to maintain correct protections to prevent access by underage users.

John Edwards, the information commissioner at the time the fine was issued, noted that the platform fell short on multiple fronts. The regulator found that the company did not adequately prevent under-13s from accessing the service, failed to identify those users, and did not remove them upon discovery.

Resumed Algorithmic Investigation

In addition to the financial penalty, the company has dropped its legal challenge against an ICO request for information concerning the algorithmic processing of teenagers' personal data. The regulator will now resume its investigation into how the platform serves potentially harmful content to younger demographics.

The resolution arrives as the UK prepares to implement a new under-16 age limit for accessing social media platforms, which comes into force next year. The UK communications regulator, Ofcom, has stated that technology companies must take further action to enforce age limits ahead of the ban.

In Australia, which introduced a similar ban for under-16s last December, the eSafety commissioner reported that a substantial proportion of underage users maintained their accounts or bypassed age-gating systems. Industry compliance remains under scrutiny as regulators emphasize the necessity of robust age-verification infrastructure to meet upcoming statutory obligations.