UK investigates TikTok’s child safety practices

Britain’s media watchdog is investigating how TikTok conducts age checks on its users to prevent children from seeing harmful content such as pornography.

Ofcom said on Thursday that social media companies are obliged under the UK’s Online Safety Act to use efficient age assurance methods to identify minors using their services and ensure they do not see harmful content.

The regulator said in a separate report that many social media companies choose to use so-called age inference models, in which sites assess a user’s age based on how they interact on the platform.

Ofcom said: “In some cases, age inference models, such as those used by TikTok, may not correctly identify a large proportion of children, putting them at risk of being exposed to harmful content.” Ofcom said the investigation will examine whether TikTok complies with UK law. It added that the regulator would provide an update on the investigation in October.

A TikTok spokesperson said the company complied with its obligations under the Online Safety Act and would work with Ofcom to prove this.

“We rigorously enforce age-appropriate experiences through expert-informed platform rules and advanced age inference technology, in line with key industry peers,” the spokesperson said.

Write to Edith Hancock: edith.hancock@wsj.com