TikTok fined $30m in Brazil over child safety

Brazil's National Data Protection Agency has fined TikTok 153.7 million reais, or $29.9 million, for failing to implement child safety measures, saying the platform did not do enough to stop adolescents accessing the service and having their data processed.

Fabricio Lopes, an enforcement director at the agency known as ANPD, said the data was being used to offer advertising to adolescents. He called the fine a “powerful signal” to other platforms about how seriously the agency takes its work.

The ANPD also ordered ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, to delete data collected in violation of regulations. ANPD director Lorena Giuberti Coutinho said TikTok had committed to suspending all advertisements for users who are not logged in.

The agency said TikTok had committed to a compliance plan to improve protection for children and adolescents. Under the measures described by ANPD, TikTok must automatically apply stricter privacy settings to accounts belonging to children under 16, strengthen parental supervision systems and put in place stricter content filters.

TikTok said in a statement that the fine stems from concerns raised in 2021 and “does not take into account” measures it says have been implemented since then. The company said it has introduced more than 50 safety features aimed at teenagers over the past six years, including restricting direct messaging for children under 16, not recommending that age group's content to strangers, and allowing parents to set screen-time limits and block accounts.

According to the ANPD, TikTok has 10 days to appeal the fine.

The action comes as Brazil takes a tougher approach to regulating social media platforms. Brazil has required users under 16 to have their accounts linked to those of their parents, and Coutinho said the ANPD had begun proceedings to check the compliance of 22 social media networks and platforms with a child online protection law passed this year.

The ANPD this month also ordered Discord to suspend livestreams and video calls after a teenage girl was allegedly encouraged to take her own life during a broadcast. The agency said Discord's appeal against the suspension was under review.

TikTok last week agreed to pay $400 million to settle a US Department of Justice lawsuit over claims that the video-sharing platform collected children's personal data without parental permission.