TikTok to tighten age checks in Europe as regulators ramp up pressure 

[STOCKHOLM] TikTok will start rolling out new age-detection technology across Europe in the coming weeks, it said on Friday (Jan 16).

This comes as the ByteDance-owned platform faces regulatory pressure to better identify and remove accounts belonging to children under 13.

The previously unreported system follows a year-long pilot in Europe. It analyses profile information, posted videos and behavioural signals, to predict whether an account holder may be underage.

The accounts flagged by the technology will be reviewed by specialist moderators rather than automatically banned, TikTok said.

Regulatory scrutiny

The rollout comes as the European authorities scrutinise how platforms verify users’ ages under strict data-protection rules, amid concerns that current approaches are either ineffective or overly invasive.

Australia last year imposed the world’s first social media ban on children under 16, while the European Parliament is pushing for age limits on the social media platforms. Denmark wants to ban social media for those under 15.

The UK pilot led to the removal of thousands of additional accounts belonging to users under 13.

Despite extensive efforts, there is no globally agreed way to confirm a person’s age while preserving privacy, TikTok said.

For appeals against bans, the company will use facial-age estimation from verification provider Yoti, along with credit-card checks and government-issued identification. Meta also uses Yoti to verify users’ ages on Facebook.

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TikTok said that the new technology was built specifically for Europe to comply with the region’s regulatory requirements. The company has worked with Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, its lead European Union privacy regulator, while developing the system.

European users will be notified as the technology launches, TikTok added. REUTERS