Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Jun 26, 2025

Calls for an outright ban on TikTok are not straightforward, despite data concerns

Calls for an outright ban on TikTok are not straightforward, despite data concerns

The Information Commissioner's Office has ruled that TikTok "failed to carry out adequate checks to identify and remove underage children from its platform" - with more than a million under-13s in the UK using the app.
Lying about how old you are is a childhood rite of passage, but in the social media era it comes around earlier than ever.

The minimum age for most social media users is 13. But for younger children, registering an account on a smartphone is as simple as adjusting the year of birth and pressing "okay".

With no attempt at age verification, that's a far less nerve-wracking deception than fibbing to an usher to get into a 15-rated movie.

And judging by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) finding against TikTok, it comes with almost zero chance of detection.

Abuse of terms and conditions

The ICO found that around 1.4 million under-13s in the UK are routinely using the platform, and that TikTok was insufficiently concerned at this industrial abuse of its terms and conditions.

The company "failed to carry out adequate checks to identify and remove underage children from its platform", the ICO found, and as a consequence failed to get parental consent to use their data - a legal condition for using the personal information of under-13s.

That in turn raised the possibility that under-13s had been tracked and profiled, and potentially delivered "harmful, inappropriate content".

These findings may have come as more of a surprise to parents than to their children, among whom TikTok remains a sensation but has long ceased to be just a cheerful forum for cute dance moves.

Harmful content

The potentially harmful content to which the ICO refers will have been generated by the TikTok algorithm, meaning anyone aged 13 and over may see it too, but without any risk of sanction.

There are concerns because the TikTok algorithm is particularly effective at delivering more of what users' behaviour suggests they want, whether it's good for them or not.

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said: "Because TikTok uses algorithms to show users new content, it's easy for young people to come across inappropriate or upsetting videos."

TikTok contests the findings and says it "invests heavily" to police its age restrictions, but the ICO judgment addresses one of the central concerns about social media; that a combination of its inherent form and specific content is harmful to mental health.

The same concerns have been raised about other platforms, which have faced similar questions over the use and retention of user data and the monitoring of content.

How TikTok's ownership plays a role

What makes TikTok different is its ownership. The first non-American social media behemoth happens to be controlled by a Chinese company, ByteDance, and that's put it in the crosshairs of Western governments as well as regulators.

Hours before the ICO published its findings, Australia became the latest state to ban the TikTok app from government devices, joining the United States, Canada, European Union and the UK.

These governments contend that allowing TikTok to "scrape" data from government devices - a process for which users have to give permission - poses a security risk because it could end up in the hands of the Chinese authorities.

In the US it has become a corporate frontline for rising tension with Beijing.

A congressional committee last month queued up to hammer its chief executive Shou Zi Chew, who denied being subject to state influence and said the data of its estimated 150 million American users will move to US servers within a US company.

That is unlikely to end the concern about national security or personal safety, but calls for an outright ban are not straightforward.

Millions of users, young and not so young, use and enjoy TikTok by choice every day. Banning a platform will not come without protest, even if others would surely fill the scrolling space.

And those users include at least one cabinet member, Grant Shapps, the Ministry of Defence, and Number 10 Downing Street, all of which have active TikTok accounts - suggesting they value access to an audience they doubt is safe.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Russian Shadow Payments via Cryptocurrency Reach $9 Billion
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Macron and Merz: Europe must arm itself in an unstable world
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
×