TikTok drops appeal against £12.7m fine for not keeping under-13s off platform
TikTok has dropped its appeal against a £12.7 million fine issued by the UK's Information Commissioner's Office in 2023. The penalty was imposed after the ICO found TikTok failed to adequately verify users' ages or remove children under 13 from the platform.
Why this matters: TikTok collected data on children it was not supposed to have — and the fine confirms regulators knew it. Dropping the appeal means TikTok is no longer contesting the core finding: that its age checks were inadequate and underage kids stayed on the platform anyway. That is not a technical failure. It is a choice about how much friction to put between children and a product designed to keep people watching. The money matters less than the admission.
Who should care: Lawyers · Privacy officers · Compliance
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