Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, has launched a formal investigation into whether TikTok is meeting its child safety obligations under the Online Safety Act 2023. The probe centres on whether the platform has failed to properly manage risks of harm to children, particularly regarding age verification systems intended to keep users under 13 off the platform, and comes amid wider regulatory pressure on social media firms to improve protections for young users.

A separate Ofcom report has raised doubts about the effectiveness of TikTok's "age inference" system, which estimates a user's age from behaviour and content rather than requiring formal documentation, noting it needs prolonged observation of a user before flagging them as underage. Ofcom stressed no conclusions have yet been reached, but potential penalties for non-compliance include fines of up to £18 million or 10% of global revenue, whichever is higher. TikTok said it uses "multiple checks" including moderator review and public reporting, and insisted it meets its legal obligations. The investigation follows similar Ofcom pressure on Meta, Snap and Roblox, and precedes a planned UK ban on under-16s using social media from next year.