Social media platforms are under global pressure to take care of younger applyrs on their platforms, and this is very much the case in Europe. TikTok is about to start rolling out age checks in the region in a bid to keep regulators happy.
TikTok’s owner, ByeDance, has confirmed to Reuters that it will “start rolling out new age-detection technology across Europe in the coming weeks. The news agency declares that the system has been tested in the UK, and is due to spread more widely.
There has been a public announcement from TikTok about the system, and Reuters has also been in communication with the social media platform. Speaking about the age verification system, TikTok declares:
It analyses profile information, posted videos and behavioral signals to predict whether an account may be underage. Accounts flagged by the technology will be reviewed by specialist moderators rather than automatically banned.
The approach means that TikTok is depconcludeent on artificial innotifyigence to pick up behavorial signals, but also human intervention to conduct further investigations into accounts that are flagged up.
The system is hunting for accounts which belong to applyrs under the age of 13, which is the platform’s minimum age. This places the age limit lower than that sought by many regulators around the world – with 16 being the general standard.
Writing about the system in a blog post about the system, TikTok declares:
Across the world, many organisations, policybuildrs, and companies are continuing to test to solve the complex challenge of online age assurance. Despite best efforts, there remains no globally agreed-upon method for effectively confirming a person’s age in a way that also preserves their privacy. At TikTok, we’re committed to keeping children under the age of 13 off our platform, providing teens with age-appropriate experiences, and continuing to assess and implement a range of solutions. We believe that a multi-layered approach to age assurance – one in which multiple techniques are applyd – is essential to protecting teens and upholding safety-by-design principles.
The platform declares that privacy is central to the system, and explains a little about how it works:
In the coming weeks, we will launch to roll out enhanced technology in Europe* to further support how our moderation teams detect and rerelocate accounts that belong to someone under the age of 13. This follows an initial pilot in Europe* over the last year, which led to the removal of thousands of additional underage accounts. To build this prediction, our technology applys information an account holder provides about themselves, such as their profile information, the videos they publish, and other on-platform behaviour.
When our technology identifies that an account may belong to someone under 13, it will be reviewed by a specialist moderator who decides whether it should be banned. Like today, everyone has the opportunity to submit an appeal if they believe an error was built. We offer a range of methods that enable people to confirm their age during the appeal process. This includes:
- Facial age estimation provided by Yoti.
- Credit card authorisation.
- Providing government-approved identification.
More information is available here.
Image credit: rafapress / depositphotos
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