On Monday, the Information Commissioner’s Office, Britain’s privacy watchdog, began looking into how online picture sharing platforms Imgur, Reddit, and TikTok protect children’s privacy.
Complex algorithms are used by social media businesses to prioritize content and maintain user engagement. Nevertheless, because they magnify comparable information, children may be exposed to more and more hazardous materials.
The watchdog launched a “major investigation” into TikTok’s use of children’s personal data, stating that it is investigating how the Chinese company ByteDance owns the short-form video-sharing app TikTok, which uses the personal information of 13 to 17-year-olds to suggest content in their feed on the social media platform.
According to the report, social networking sites Reddit and Imgur are under investigation for their methods of determining the age of its young members.
According to Information Commissioner John Edwards, the investigation will examine if TikTok’s data gathering methods might cause harm to minors, such as data leaks or “more time than is healthy” spent on the app.
The Information Commissioner’s Office stated in a statement that “if we find there is sufficient evidence that any of these companies have broken the law, we will put this to them and obtain their representations before reaching a final conclusion.”
TikTok was fined GBP 12.7 million ($16 million) by the ICO in 2023 for violating data privacy laws by exploiting children’s personal information under the age of 13 without their parents’ permission.
According to TikTok, “strict and comprehensive measures that protect the privacy and safety of teens” govern how its recommender systems function, as the BBC reported.
“Robust restrictions on the content allowed in teens’ feeds” are another feature of the site, it was said.
In an email to Reuters, a Reddit representative stated that the firm has been collaborating closely with the ICO and plans to adhere to all applicable laws in the nations where it conducts business.
“Most of our users are adults, but we have plans to roll out changes this year that address updates to UK regulations around age assurance,” a spokeswoman for Reddit stated.
A Reuters request for comment was not immediately answered by ByteDance, TikTok, or Imgur.
Britain has enacted laws that impose stricter regulations on social media companies, including a requirement that they enforce age restrictions and age-checking procedures to keep kids from seeing damaging and inappropriate information.
According to proposed British regulations released last year, social media companies like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok must “tame” their algorithms to remove or degrade offensive content in order to better safeguard minors.
TikTok’s algorithm “feeds” on personal information obtained from user profiles, preferences, links visited, and the amount of time spent watching a certain video, according to Mr. Edwards, making it governed by UK regulations.
Apart from the investigation into TikTok, the ICO is also examining Reddit’s and image-sharing website Imgur’s age verification procedures.
The inquiry will examine whether the businesses are adhering to the children’s code and the data protection regulations of the United Kingdom.
The code aims to provide guidelines for internet platforms that safeguard children in the United Kingdom. Platforms that collect user data from minors in the United Kingdom are required to minimize the amount of data they collect and use additional caution while processing it.
How Reddit and Imgur verify user ages and implement age checks will be the main topics of the ICO’s investigations into these networks.
According to Ofcom, Reddit surpassed X as the fifth most popular platform in the UK in October.
On its website, Imgur claims to reach over 250 million individuals each month. There is no estimate of how many people use it in the UK, though, because it does not specify which nations its users are based in.
“I don’t want to pre-judge how we might look at the Imgur and Reddit matters, but if there are age limits for accessing services, then the platforms have to enforce those in some ways,” the commissioner of information told the BBC.
There are a variety of technologies and methods available, and I believe that the level of rigor varies depending in part on the hazards involved and the probability that children would visit such websites.
“I guess a baseline would be: self-declaration is probably not going to cut it if there is content on the site or services on the site that are unsuitable for children under the age of 13.”
Although 95% of Reddit’s members are adults, the company “has plans to roll out changes this year that address updates to UK regulations around age assurance,” a representative for the social media platform told the BBC.
A request for comment from the BBC was not answered by Imgur.
None of the three platforms had necessarily violated the law as a result of the investigations.
However, businesses who are discovered to have done so may face penalties and enforcement notifications.
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