TikTok Strengthens Teen Safety Features, Reveals EU Financial Figures

TikTok is introducing new safety measures across the European Union aimed at tightening how it identifies and removes underage users, while also sharing fresh data on the platform’s economic footprint in the region in 2025. These moves come amid intensifying regulatory scrutiny over youth protection on social media and ongoing debates in several EU countries about minimum age limits.

The short-form video app, owned by China’s ByteDance, has announced an upcoming rollout of enhanced age-verification technology that will analyse multiple signals – including profile information, posted content and user behaviour – to detect accounts that potentially belong to children under 13, which is TikTok’s minimum allowed age. Accounts flagged by the system will be reviewed by specialist moderators, rather than automatically removed, and users will have the opportunity to appeal age-related decisions through methods such as facial age estimation, credit card checks or government ID submission.

This initiative follows a year-long pilot phase in Europe that resulted in the removal of thousands of suspected underage accounts. The company says the enhanced measures are designed to strengthen enforcement of its existing age rules and to alleviate calls from regulators for stricter age controls – for instance, some policymakers in France and other member states are considering proposals to raise social media minimum ages above current thresholds.

In parallel with its safety announcement, TikTok has published figures outlining its economic contribution across the EU in 2025. The company estimates it generated €31 billion in economic value in the bloc last year, with substantial output tied to countries including Germany, France, Italy and Spain. TikTok also says it helped millions of European businesses expand their reach and supported tens of thousands of jobs within the creative sector.