Tiktok to pay £12.7m UK child privacy fine despite disputing watchdog findings
Tiktok will pay a £12.7m UK fine over its handling of children’s data after abandoning a three-year legal challenge, despite maintaining that it disagrees with the privacy watchdog’s findings.
The social media giant has withdrawn its appeal against a penalty imposed by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in 2023, making the fine final.
A Tiktok spokesperson told City AM: “Whilst we disagree with the ICO’s 2023 decision, its findings relate to a historical period, May 2018 – July 2020, and do not reflect the many youth safety measures and policies we have implemented since then”.
The watchdog estimated that as many as 1.75 million British children under 13 used Tiktok in 2020, despite the platform’s own rules barring them from having accounts.
It found Tiktok failed to carry out adequate checks to identify and remove underage users or obtain parental consent, despite being aware that children under 13 were accessing the service.
The company also failed to clearly explain how users’ data was collected, used and shared, according to the ICO.
Tiktok had challenged the fine but has now dropped its appeal after the Upper Tribunal rejected its argument that the processing of personal data had been for artistic purposes. The ICO would have had to obtain prior court approval before issuing the penalty.
The withdrawal brings that dispute to an end, but also clears the way for the regulator to pursue a separate investigation into how the platform uses teenagers’ data to determine what they see on the platform.
Tiktok algorithm investigation restarts
Tiktok has separately dropped an appeal against an ICO information notice demanding documents and details about how it processes the data of users aged between 13 and 17 through its ‘recommender’ systems.
The appeal had prevented the watchdog from progressing the investigation. Its withdrawal means the ICO can now resume the probe
Recommender systems profile users based on their activity to determine which videos and other content they are shown.
The ICO opened its investigation in February 2025 amid concerns about children being recommended inappropriate or harmful material.
Its own research has found personalised recommendations can make it harder for some children to stop scrolling as they are repeatedly shown content based on their interests
“How companies design online services and use children’s personal information has a significant impact on young people’s experience in the digital world”, ICO deputy commissioner Emily Keaney said.
“Our successful action against Tiktok shows how important it is for companies to have the right protections in place, including to prevent access by children who are not old enough to be using their services”.
Last month, TikTok agreed to a proposed $400m (£293m) settlement with the US government over allegations that it illegally collected data from children under 13 without parental consent.
A US judge has since raised concerns over part of that agreement, with the settlement still requiring court approval
In the UK, Tiktok is also facing separate scrutiny from Ofcom over whether its age-checking technology is adequately identifying children under the Online Safety Act.
The latest ICO action is separate from Ofcom’s online safety regime and concerns UK data protection law, but comes as regulators increase pressure on social media companies over how they identify and protect younger users.