Why was TikTok fined by its users?

TikTok was fined £12.7 million for accessing young users' data.

The Information Commissioner's Office estimates that TikTok allowed as many as 1.4 million children under the age of 13 to access its platform in the UK in 2020, despite the fact that 13 is the minimum age to register an account.

TikTok was fined £12.7 million for violating data protection laws, including using minors' personal information under 13 without their parent's permission.

The UK Information Commissioner's Office accused the Chinese-owned video app of not doing enough to ensure its users were over 13 and to delete the accounts of those who were not.

John Edwards, the UK's information commissioner, stated: "There are regulations to guarantee that our kids are just as safe online as offline. TikTok disregarded those rules."

Added him: "TikTok ought to have been wiser. TikTok ought to have performed better.

"Our £12.7 million fine underscores the potentially significant consequences of their failures.

They "did not take enough steps to remove the underage youngsters who were utilizing their platform or do enough to check who was using it."

He added that there was a chance that information about children had been used to follow and profile them, putting them at risk of seeing offensive or hazardous material.

Although the company disagreed with the ICO's decision, a TikTok spokesman expressed satisfaction that the fee had been decreased from the potential £27 million put out by the ICO last year.

We make major investments to protect and keep children under 13 off the platform, and our 40,000-strong safety workforce works around the clock to help maintain the platform healthy for our community.

We are examining our options as we continue to analyze the verdict.

ByteDance, a company located in China, owns TikTok, and many nations, including the UK, have expressed worry about this relationship.

Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the European Parliament, and the European Commission have all recently announced similar prohibitions. The UK also outlawed the app on government phones.