TikTok began implementing improved age prediction technology to tighten its age verification measures in Europereinforcing the way in which the company’s moderation teams detect and delete accounts belonging to users under 13 years of age.
The social network property of ByteDance referred to the “complicated challenge” of online age verification in order to offer safe environments and services to underage users, since “there is still no globally agreed upon method” to confirm a person’s age while preserving their identity.
In this sense, the company expressed its commitment to keep users under 13 years of age (minimum age to use TikTok) off the platform, as well as to offer appropriate experiences depending on the age of the users. To do this, it began to implement improved technology age verification of minors in Europe.
Specifically, TikTok improved its age prediction capabilities with technology that uses information the account holder provides about themselves, such as profile data, as well as examining the videos they post and other behavior on the platform, to determine their approximate age.
In this way, when this system detects that an account may belong to a minor under 13 years of age, it is sent directly to a specialized moderator from its human team, who reviews the account again to evaluate if it belongs to a minor and decides if it should be deleted.
This was shared in a statement on its website, where it detailed that this technology has begun to be implemented after a trial period in Europe which was carried out last year 2025, with which, as a result, thousands of minor accounts were eliminated.
However, TikTok clarified that it offers different options so that users can recover their accounts, in case it has been deleted by mistakenly classifying it as belonging to a person under 13 years of age.
Users can submit an appeal and confirm their age through a facial age estimation system provided by the company Yotiwhich works by scanning the face in a video through the camera of the “smartphone“. Likewise, they can also resort to authorization through the credit card or provide appropriate government identification.
It should be noted that TikTok will send a notification to users in Europe to inform them of the launch of this technology and provide information on how it works. Likewise, it was launched for users of the European Economic Area, Swiss and United Kingdom.
Nearly 6 million minor accounts deleted every month
In addition to all this, TikTok also noted that they have other approaches to detect and confirm when people may not have provided their correct date of birth when creating their account on the social network.
That is, the first age limitation barrier is when the person creates an account and enters their date of birth. This age restriction method is “neutral,” because the company “does not imply or pressure people to enter the correct age.” In case you do not meet the minimum age, the account is suspended and the possibility of creating an account again with a different date.
Likewise, they also train their moderation team to watch for signs that an account is being used by a child under 13, even if they are reviewing content for another reason. In this case, they can send the account to their specialized review team with more experience in age control.
Finally, TikTok recalled that anyone can report an account that they believe belongs to someone under 13 years old, without needing to have a TikTok account.
As a result of all these age verification and control methods, the company assured that it eliminates around six million accounts of minors worldwide every month.
Age-appropriate experiences
For underage users but over 13 years old, TikTok offers teen accounts, with more than 50 features and settings. security, privacy and protection predefined and activated automatically. For example, the screen time limit of 50 minutes by default or not receiving notifications after the set bedtime.
Likewise, TikTok noted that it will also use new age prediction technology to determine if a person is within an age range for minor users, for example, 13 to 15 years old.
If this age estimate does not match the date provided by the person in question, the account will be sent to a moderator to review the case and assign an experience appropriate to their age.
Security and privacy
All these measures are carried out with the aim of prioritizing the protection and privacy of people on the social network. To do this, it integrated data protection principles “into the design phase from the beginning”, ensuring that age prediction is not used for purposes other than deciding whether to send an account to human moderators.
“With this approach, we can offer security to teenagers while respecting privacy,” the company said, while clarifying that they have consulted with TikTok’s main privacy regulator in the EU, such as the Data Protection Commission (CPD), to comply with European standards of data protection in this matter.
