TikTok drops appeal and pays £12.7m fine after up to 1.75 million children under 13 accessed its platform

From the Newshound archive · first published 24 September 2026 · last updated 25 September 2026.

Up to 1.75 million British children under 13 were using TikTok in 2020 despite the platform's minimum age limit, the Information Commissioner's Office found. The ICO fined the Chinese-owned app £12.7m in 2023, ruling it had done "very little, if anything" to check users' ages or remove underage accounts. TikTok also failed to obtain parental consent or inform users how their personal data was being gathered and processed.

The ICO's deputy commissioner Emily Keaney said the case shows companies must have 'the right protections in place' to prevent underage access.