The United Kingdom's data regulator has fined TikTok 12.7 million pounds, or $15.9 million, for mishandling children's data and privacy, the latest legal pressure on the social media platform as it faces scrutiny for its ties to China.
TikTok allowed 1.4 million U.K. children on its platform in 2020, according to the Information Commissioner's Office, breaching its own terms of service, which require users to be 13 or older. U.K. laws require that tech companies such as TikTok have parental consent before allowing a user younger than 13 to access the platform or gathering their data.
The fine adds to TikTok's regulatory problems. It has been banned from government devices in several countries due to its Chinese affiliation and now faces the threat of an outright ban in the United States.
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"There are laws in place to make sure our children are as safe in the digital world as they are in the physical world. TikTok did not abide by those laws," U.K. Information Commissioner John Edwards said in a statement on Tuesday. "As a consequence, an estimated one million under 13s were inappropriately granted access to the platform, with TikTok collecting and using their personal data. That means that their data may have been used to track them and profile them, potentially delivering harmful, inappropriate content at their very next scroll."
TikTok is reviewing the decision and considering its options, a spokesperson told Politico.
The U.K. banned TikTok on all government devices on March 23 over security concerns.
Congress is considering multiple bills in the U.S. to regulate TikTok. The most popular bill is the RESTRICT Act, which has 20 sponsors and would provide the Commerce Department with additional powers for reviewing transactions with businesses operating out of foreign nations of concern. The bill has been the target of much criticism, with lawmakers and conservatives comparing it to the PATRIOT Act, the post-9/11 surveillance law long opposed by many civil rights groups.
Sen. John Thune (SD), the top Republican co-sponsor of the bill, rebutted those criticisms last week and said the measure is squarely focused on "tackling foreign adversary technology products" and not U.S. citizens.
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Other senators have introduced rival legislation to ban TikTok. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) have proposed outright bans of TikTok for months over its data collection practices and relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew appeared before Congress last week, where he was grilled by lawmakers on both sides over the company's practices.