TikTok Rolls Out Smarter AI Tools to Identify and Remove Under-13 Accounts Across Europe

January 21, 2026

TikTok has stated that in the near future, an enhanced age-detection system will be implemented in European nations, which will be more effective in detecting and eliminating any user who is below the age requirement in TikTok, which is 13 years. Such a step is a continuation of a year-long experiment in a limited number of markets, which was successful enough to deactivate thousands of suspected underage accounts.

The new system, which uses artificial intelligence, according to the statements of the company, will evaluate a mix of account data, posted content, behavioral trends, and other indicators to determine the age of a user. The accounts that AI considers the possibility of belonging to children below the age of 13 will be forwarded to trained moderators to view before any action is taken.

TikTok already requests users to provide new information, such as date of birth during sign-up, but this improved system goes a step further and examines the manner in which accounts are used within the application. According to the company, the profile assists it in recognizing accounts that could have failed to be detected in previous inspections.

The users who believe that they have been wrongly labeled as underage will get the chance to challenge the ruling. TikTok has provided various verification services to assist in proving the actual age of the user.

The introduction is also due to increasing pressure on the part of European regulators that are seeking to have the social platforms to further reinforce the way they are verifying the age of their communities in accordance to the rigid national regulations on privacy and safety. TikTok collaborated with the Data Protection Commission, the leading EU regulator, in Ireland to make sure that the technology is used to observe the local data-protection needs.

This new age verification initiative is targeted at users below 13, but the prevalent debate about restricted access to older teens (including in the United Kingdom and elsewhere) is still shaping the way social platforms think of child safety on the internet.

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