TikTok said on Friday that it will begin rolling out new age-detection technology across Europe in the coming weeks, as the ByteDance-owned platform comes under increasing regulatory pressure to identify and remove accounts belonging to children under the age of 13, according to Reuters.
The newly disclosed system follows a year-long pilot program conducted in Europe. It evaluates profile details, uploaded videos, and user behavior to estimate whether an account may be operated by an underage user. Accounts flagged by the technology will be reviewed by trained moderators rather than being automatically removed, TikTok said.
Growing regulatory scrutiny
The rollout comes as European regulators intensify scrutiny of how online platforms verify users’ ages while complying with strict data protection laws. Authorities have raised concerns that existing age-check methods are either ineffective or too intrusive.
Globally, governments are moving toward tougher rules. Australia last year introduced the world’s first social media ban for children under 16, while the European Parliament is pushing for age limits on social media use. Denmark has also proposed banning social media for users under 15. In the United Kingdom, a pilot of TikTok’s system resulted in the removal of thousands of additional underage accounts.
TikTok acknowledged that there is still no globally accepted method for verifying a user’s age while fully protecting privacy. For users appealing account removals, the platform will rely on facial age estimation technology from Yoti, along with credit card checks and government-issued identification.
Rival Meta also uses Yoti to confirm users’ ages on Facebook.
TikTok said the new system was designed specifically for Europe to meet regional regulatory standards. The company has worked closely with Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, its lead privacy regulator in the EU, during development. European users will be notified as the technology is introduced, the company added.
