Ofcom launches investigation into TikTok over child safety duties

Ofcom opened a formal investigation on 16 July 2026 into TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited, testing whether the company failed, or is failing, to meet child-protection duties under section 12 of the Online Safety Act 2023. The regulator said it will examine whether TikTok has proportionate systems and processes to keep children from primary priority harmful content, whether it protects children in age groups exposed to other harmful material, and whether its age-assurance tools are “highly effective” at deciding if a user is a child.

The duties at issue came into force on 25 July 2025, giving platforms a legal obligation to harden their child-safety systems. Ofcom said its action followed a wider review of major platforms and its Children’s online experiences report, which raised concerns about children encountering harmful content on TikTok. The regulator’s separate Age Assurance report, also published on 16 July 2026, said age inference models such as those used by TikTok may in some cases have failed to correctly identify a significant proportion of children, and that age inference is not considered highly effective for this purpose.

Ofcom’s child-safety work has already pushed platforms toward safer feeds, stronger age checks and more controls for young users. Its April 2025 rules for a safer generation of children online finalized more than 40 practical measures, and its earlier safety work covered TikTok, Twitch and Snap. The new probe puts TikTok under direct scrutiny over whether those requirements are being implemented in practice, not just described in policy statements.

Ofcom said it had not reached any conclusion that TikTok breached the law, but it will keep the investigation moving and expects to update the public in October 2026. If the regulator finds a breach, it can fine the company up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater. TikTok said it was confident it meets its Online Safety Act obligations and would work with Ofcom to demonstrate that.

The timing sharpened the political stakes in London. The UK government has already announced a separate social media ban for under-16s, expected to take effect in spring 2027, and on 15 July 2026 it said 16- and 17-year-olds would be able to opt in to overnight social media curfews and disable infinite scrolling. Together, the enforcement action, the age-assurance findings and the new government restrictions point to a tougher phase in child-safety regulation, with regulators now asking whether the major platforms’ age gates are meaningfully protective or largely cosmetic.