TikTok removes more than 7 Million accounts of underage users in first quarter, the first disclosure of such numbers

  • TikTok said it removed 11.1 million accounts, and 7.26 million were suspected of belonging to underage users
  • Platforms need parental permission to collect data on kids under the age of 13 in the US, but many lie about their age to create accounts

TikTok said it removed more than 7 million accounts belonging to underage users in the first quarter. The company was previously fined in the US for unlawfully collecting children’s data. Photo: TNS
TikTok, the short-video social-media platform popular among teens, said it removed more than 7 million accounts belonging to children under 13 during the first quarter, taking a significant step in enforcing the required age of users on the app.

Of more than 11.1 million accounts that were removed for violating the app’s guidelines, 7.26 million of them were from users suspected of being under the age guidelines, the company said in a blog post on Wednesday. It was the first time TikTok published the number of underage accounts it expunged.

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