TikTok failed to provide Ofcom, the media regulator in the UK, with accurate information about its parental controls on a freedom for information request.
The delay and inaccuracies of the report has delayed the publication of Ofcom’s child safety transparency report, holding social media companies to account in particular. TikTok was slapped with a £1.875 million fine for failing to comply with the request.
Ofcom said: “Gathering accurate information from regulated companies is fundamental to our job as a regulator. Firms are required, by law, to respond to all statutory information requests from Ofcom in an accurate, complete and timely way. This includes providing accurate and complete information”.
Popular with young people in the last two decades, video-sharing platforms were in the frame for Ofcom’s investigative report highlighting child safety measures. As such, Ofcom sought information under regulations that pre-date the UK’s Online Safety Act.
The process to find data on TikTok’s parental controls feature, “Family Pairing” was important to feature in the report to empower parents to make decisions about which platforms they and their children use.
TikTok responded to the information request on 4 September 2023, but rolled back on the information they submitted in early December 2023 admitting it was inaccurate.
After this disclosure, Ofcom launched an investigation, uncovering TikTok’s data governance failings and failures to cooperate with the regulator for a statutory request for information.
They delayed relaying the issue to Ofcom for 3 weeks passed the deadline for the report. They complied with providing partial information 7 months after the original deadline.
Suzanne Cater, Ofcom’s Enforcement Director said: “Ofcom’s job is to scrutinise platforms’ safety features, and gathering information is a critical part of holding tech firms to account. When we demand data, it must be accurate and submitted on time. We won’t hesitate to take enforcement action if any company fails to do this”.
