Irish Examiner view: TikTok troubles

This week, TikTok in the UK was fined £12.7m.

TikTok’s troubles continue to mount. The banning of the Chinese-owned social media platform from the official devices of governments all over the world on security grounds is an ongoing problem for the company, but its failure to ensure data security and prevent underage children using its app is now costing it money too.

This week, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office fined TikTok £12.7m (€14.5m) for allowing 1.2m children under the age of 13 to use the platform. 

The decision has put TikTok in an increasingly unflattering light.

That it stood accused of using ‘special category data’ — which includes ethnic and racial origin, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, union membership, and health information, among other things — is worrying enough, but were it to share that information with others, including the Chinese state apparatus, that makes concerns about TikTok all the more palpable.

The company has tried to defend itself against each and all of the allegations it has misbehaved, but has still to convince many — including many governments around the world — that its true intention is simply to create a fun app and not a database for sinister means.