Social media platform TikTok is to pay a £12.7 million fine from the UK data watchdog after dropping an appeal.

Axar.az reports, citing The Independent, that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) imposed the fine in 2023 because TikTok “did not do enough” to make sure underage children were not using its platform and ensure that their data was used correctly.

The regulator had estimated that up to 1.75 million UK children under 13 used TikTok in 2020 despite it being against the company’s rules for children that age to create an account.

TikTok originally appealed against the fine but has now dropped this, the ICO said, meaning the penalty must be paid.

The ICO also said that TikTok has withdrawn an appeal against the regulator’s information notice requesting details from the company about how it processes the personal information of 13-17-year-olds in its recommender systems.