Italy’s data protection agency on May 12 asked the video-sharing app TikTok to strengthen further measures to prevent young users from being able to access the platform.
TikTok icon on a phone screen. Photo: THX/VNA The offer comes after TikTok deleted more than 500,000 accounts under the age of 13 in less than three months in the European country. In early February, TikTok – owned by China’s ByteDance group – agreed with Italian authorities to block all accounts under the age of 13. This is one of the measures taken after the tragic incident of a 10-year-old girl in Italy when performing a challenge on TikTok. In the latest announcement, Italy’s data regulator said: “The measures applied have made a lot of sense, but the results are not enough.” Therefore, the agency recommends that TikTok cancel any accounts connected to users under the age of 13 within 48 hours, making this access more difficult for young users, and launch media campaigns to solve the problem Love that this platform is not built for use by people under the age of 13. In addition, the Italian agency also suggested that TikTok have solutions, including the use of artificial intelligence, to reduce the risks of having teenagers under the age of 13 accessing and using the TikTok platform. Over the past months, TikTok has asked more than 12.5 million users in Italy to verify their age. In the announcement, Ms. Alexandra Evans – head of child protection at TikTok – said: “Following discussions with regulators earlier this year, we have piloted additional measures to ensure that only users 13 years of age or older can use it”.
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