FILE - TikTok could face a £27 million fine for failing to protect children's privacy after the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) found that it may have processed the data of under-13s without the necessary consent. FILE PHOTO: Reuters
TikTok could face a hefty for failing to protect children's privacy on the platform.
The video-sharing app could face a £27 million (R521m) fine after the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) found that TikTok may have processed the data of under-13s without the necessary consent.
Information Commissioner John Edwards said: "We all want children to be able to learn and experience the digital world, but with proper data privacy protections.
"Companies providing digital services have a legal duty to put those protections in place, but our provisional view is that TikTok fell short of meeting that requirement."
Meanwhile, TikTok recently announced that it would require "mandatory verification" for US-based political accounts.
The video-sharing platform also announced plans to ban all political fund-raising on the TikTok app.
In a blog post, Blake Chandlee, the president of global business solutions at TikTok, said: "As we have set out before, we want to continue to develop policies that foster and promote a positive environment that brings people together, not divide them. We do that by working to keep harmful misinformation off the platform, prohibiting political advertising, and connecting our community with authoritative information about elections.
"Today, we are building on that approach by making a series of changes to government, politician, and political party accounts that we believe will help ensure TikTok remains a fun, positive and joyful experience."
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