The European Union (EU) has fined Tiktok, a popular video-sharing outlet $368 Million for violating its strict data and privacy regulations for children.
The fine which was issued by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said that a thorough investigation found significant lapses in the protection of children’s privacy.
One of the key findings was that the default settings for teen accounts made them public, allowing unrestricted access for anyone to view and comment on videos.
The rate at which children use every social media tool they can get their hands on is alarming and the companies have to take measures to reduce exposure.
The investigation also said that the “family pairing” feature, designed to let parents manage children’s account settings, was not strict enough.
This allowed adults to enable direct messaging for users aged 16 and 17 without their consent, potentially compromising their privacy.
TikTok disagreed with the EU’s investigation.
The company argued that many of the features and settings criticized by the regulator had been addressed before the investigation began in 2021, AP reported.
They said they had already made accounts for users under 16 private by default and had disabled direct messaging for users aged 13-15.
