International TV Co-Editor

TikTok has been fined almost £2 million ($2.6 billion) by Ofcom, signaling the UK regulator is prepared to take on the tech giants.

The hefty fine comes after the Chinese social media giant failed to “respond accurately to a formal request for information” about the use of its family linking tool, which allows parents and guardians to link their teens’ accounts and enforce measures such as screen time limits, in the UK. TikTok has accepted the findings and Ofcom said the fine has been reduced by 25% to £1.875m as a result.

Businesses are legally required to respond to Ofcom's statutory information requests in an “accurate, complete and timely manner.”