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The safety of TikTok users lies “at the core of the platform,” according to Christine Grahn, the social media giant’s head of European public policy, who recently announced that the platform now boasts an impressive 175 million active users each month.
She emphasized the importance of users feeling secure, stating that this perceived safety is essential for individuals to engage authentically with the platform—an element that TikTok considers vital for its growth and community spirit.
Grahn addressed the attendees during the European Safety Forum hosted in Dublin, where the company unveiled its latest safety enhancements, which include the exploration of innovative machine learning technologies aimed at effectively identifying users under the age of 13 attempting to gain access to the service. Additionally, TikTok announced plans to impose stricter age restrictions on select facial effects and to provide clearer guidance to younger users regarding how these effects could alter their appearance.
“If people don’t feel safe, they are not going to bring their authentic selves to the platform and express themselves,” Grahn told the PA news agency, “and that means that we don’t have the platform that we’re hoping to create.”
“In order for us to achieve the best result, which is, at the end of the day, safety for our users, we have everything to gain from working with partners of various sorts,” she added, signaling the company’s commitment to collaboration in enhancing user safety.
“We adapt our products based on the research that comes out of that work, and we also work with academic partners to integrate their experience,” Grahn continued, highlighting TikTok’s proactive approach to ensuring a safer online space for users.
“Given the well-documented risks and harmful content that proliferates on some social media platforms, it’s vital that tech companies do everything in their power to ensure the youngest children are not accessing their sites,” remarked NSPCC’s Richard Collard.
“However, age limits only work if they are meaningfully enforced. It’s encouraging to see TikTok recognising this challenge and taking responsibility,” he noted, emphasizing the need for genuine action from platforms to protect vulnerable users.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg. Other social media sites must step up and find effective ways to assess the ages of their users,” Collard added, calling for a broader industry commitment to user safety.
Concerns regarding TikTok’s potential ties to the Chinese government remain prominent, especially since the platform’s parent company, ByteDance, is based in China. Critics have voiced fears that TikTok may be coerced into sharing user data with Chinese authorities.
Due to these apprehensions, TikTok is currently prohibited on government devices in the UK, and its future in the United States hangs in the balance over legislation requiring ByteDance to divest from the platform by January or face a ban—a matter complicated by uncertainties surrounding the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
In an effort to reassure users, TikTok has consistently denied any intentions to share data with the Chinese government and has initiated a significant £10 billion initiative to transfer its European user data to local data centers, enhancing its commitment to user privacy and security.
This ambitious project also entails oversight by a British cybersecurity firm, NCC Group, which Grahn referred to as “unprecedented,” further underscoring TikTok’s dedicated efforts to enhance its infrastructure.
“We’re very proud of this industry-leading data security project that aims to keep our users even more secure,” Ms. Grahn stated, elucidating the project’s components and its focus on responsible data management.
“There’s a number of different parts in this project, but maybe one of the most interesting is this unprecedented third-party external oversight by British cybersecurity company NCC Group,” she elaborated.
“From our perspective, this has been a massive undertaking – 12 billion euros over the course of 10 years – and we are quite proud of the fact that we’re building out this model, and we do see it to be truly industry-leading,” Grahn concluded, expressing confidence in the progress made thus far.
