MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s data protection authority said on Wednesday TikTok had agreed to block all accounts in the country from Feb. 9 in order to make sure only users older than 13 had access to the service app.
Children usage of online platforms has come under fire in Italy after the death of a 10-year-old girl last month that has been blamed on a social media challenge. Prosecutors in Palermo are investigating the case.
The authority said TikTok would ask users to again provide their date of birth before allowing them back onto the app and would remove all accounts of users below the required age threshold.
In addition to the request to users to state their age, the company has also committed to considering using artificial intelligence systems to identify users below the age of 13, the authority said in a statement.
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina, editing by Agnieszka Flak)
