UK watchdog probes TikTok, Reddit over childrens data use
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is investigating TikTok, Reddit, and Imgur over how they handle children's personal data, the agency announced on Monday.The probe comes amid rising concerns over how social media and video-sharing platforms collect and process data from younger users. The ICO says it will examine how TikTok uses the personal information of 13–17-year-olds to fuel its recommendation algorithms.
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Meanwhile, Reddit and Imgur are under scrutiny for how their platforms "use UK children’s personal information and their use of age assurance measures.""If social media and video sharing platforms want to benefit from operating in the UK they must comply with data protection law," said UK Information Commissioner John Edwards. "The responsibility to keep children safe online lies firmly at the door of the companies offering these services and my office is steadfast in its commitment to hold them to account." TikTok, the ByteDance-owned video sharing platform, has faced increasing scrutiny in recent years over its ties to the Chinese government. In 2023, the ICO fined TikTok over $16 million for allowing children under 13 to access the app in 2020. Additionally, TikTok is at risk of being banned in the U.S. if it fails to sell its American assets by April 2025 — a move first pushed during President Trump’s administration.
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