Ofcom investigates TikTok's child safety age tech
UK media regulator Ofcom has opened a formal investigation into TikTok’s age verification technology, signalling a costly new compliance front for social media platforms operating in Europe.
Ofcom has launched an investigation into whether TikTok is doing enough to keep children off its platform, escalating regulatory scrutiny from adult sites to mainstream social media.
The probe follows a May review that criticised the video-sharing app for not being "safe enough" for children. It also comes a month after the UK government announced plans to ban under-16s from a range of platforms entirely.
At the centre of the investigation is TikTok’s reliance on "age inference" technology. This method estimates a user's age based on their behaviour, such as the videos they watch or the accounts they interact with, rather than using definitive identity checks.
Kate Davies, Ofcom's group director for strategy and research, said the regulator has "very serious questions about whether age inference can be highly effective." Speaking to BBC's Today programme, she noted: "This is where TikTok comes in. We found that some method of age checks being used by social media are not working well enough."
TikTok firmly rejected the suggestion that its systems are inadequate. A company spokesperson said: "We're confident that we meet our Online Safety Act obligations and will work with Ofcom to demonstrate it." The company added that it "strictly enforce[s] age-appropriate experiences through expert-informed platform rules and advanced age inference technologies, in line with major industry peers." TikTok claims to have invested "billions" in online safety since its UK launch eight years ago.
A broader regulatory shift
The investigation marks a turning point in how digital rules are enforced. Under the Protection of Children's Codes, which took effect last July, sites hosting adult content must use strict methods like face scans to verify visitors are over 18. Ofcom has already issued large fines to dozens of adult sites for failing to comply.
By applying this same level of scrutiny to social media, Ofcom is forcing companies like TikTok and Instagram—which also uses age inference—to potentially overhaul their user onboarding processes. For tech companies operating in Europe, abandoning behavioural guesswork for rigorous age verification represents a significant operational shift and a major new compliance cost.
