TikTok Under Scrutiny for Allowing Underage Users to Circumvent Age Restrictions and Become Influencers

The TikTok logo, in a file photograph. EFE/EPA/Roman Pilipey

TikTok is under scrutiny after an investigation that revealed flaws in its policy to protect underage users. The platform’s moderators allow minors under 13 years of age to open an account if they declare that they are under the supervision of their parents and a quality analyst of the social network advised keeping the profiles active even if the user indicated that they were 12 years old, thus challenging the limit. minimum age of 13 years.

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According to the investigation carried out by The Guardian newspaper, a TikTok quality analyst instructed more than 70 moderators on how to proceed with accounts suspected of being operated by children under 13 years of age. The Chinese company faces criticism since within the platform there are documented cases of users who, despite appearing minors in their videos and profiles, were not removed from the social network.

TikTok maintains that its policy is uniform and focuses efforts on preventing children under 13 from using the app, applying removal of suspicious accounts and mandatory age barriers during registration.

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The social network has been subject to sanctions by regulators in Ireland and the United Kingdom, with fines amounting to $378 million and $15 million respectively, for failures to protect content from minors and for the alleged use improper data of users under 13 years of age.

Additionally, reports suggest that some minor accounts had internal labels such as “top creator,” which could give them preferential treatment within the platform. Despite these labels, there was insufficient evidence of parental supervision, drawing attention to the effectiveness of the platform’s safety measures.

11/07/2022 FEATURED – July 11, 2022, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Stuttgart: A person touches the TikTok logo on a smartphone. Photo: Marijan Murat/Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH/dpa INTERNATIONAL POLITICS Marijan Murat/Deutsche Presse-Ag/dpa

In May, a report from the United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) presented concrete examples of children under 13 who were already considered “influencers” on the platform and “substantial content and likely to attract 13-year-old users.”

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One of the cases cited in the text is that of one of the “high-level influencers” who has 5.4 million followers as of July 2022 and his date of birth was in 2007, “which means that he did not comply 13 years until 2020. However, in his account there are several videos prior to that date.

“A video of the user performing a backflip uploaded in 2019 (at which time he would have been under 13 years old) received more than 97,000 likes,” the report states.

On the subject, the report adds screenshots of one of the videos in which it notes “the user is identifiable as a small child.”

“Given its age, it is reasonable to expect that this content is likely to attract others under the age of 13,” he concludes.

Another case mentioned in the report is a 9-year-old influencer, born in 2012, who “became famous by performing the song from the Disney movie ‘The Little Mermaid’.”

According to the investigation carried out by the ICO, the user “is described as one of the ’18 Top Kid Influencers’” by a digital marketing platform.

On TikTok, his videos show him singing and playing digital instruments,” he summarizes.

The report also reflects the case of another “influencer” born in 2006 known for her dance covers.

“She has more than 30 million followers and is said to be one of the main ‘children’s influencers’,” he adds about the user who had more than 400,000 likes in a 2019 publication.

Regarding the content “likely to attract young children”, the British organization’s report cites several specific cases of “unboxing” of gifts for young children. Although it does not specify the user, the report does indicate that the account had more than 170,000 followers.

2023-12-19 18:59:30
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