TikTok paid a fine for exploiting children's data

British regulators have fined TikTok £12.7 million ($15.9 million) for failing to remove users under the age of 13 and for using their data without parental consent. The ruling comes as Western governments crack down on the wildly popular Chinese video app. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said that more than a million British children under the age of 13 used TikTok in 2020, in contravention of the app’s terms of service. TikTok insisted that it invests “heavily” to keep under 13s off the platform, stressing that its 40,000-strong safety team monitors accounts for signs of underage use. TikTok has been accused by multiple Western governments of sharing user data with the Chinese government, a charge both it and Beijing deny. Despite these investigations, TikTok has been banned from government-issued devices in the US, UK, and EU’s main institutions, as well as in more than a dozen other countries.