Around half of those aged between 3 and 17 use TikTok and Snapchat, figures collected as part of the watchdog’s annual survey of children’s and parents’ online attitudes showed.
The study found a slight increase in both apps’ popularity in the past year, with TikTok now being used by 53% of children (up from 50%), and Snapchat by 46% (up from 42%).
Both companies have faced mounting pressure over user safety in recent months.
Various governments around the world have banned TikTok from official devices, citing anxieties over its relationship with the Chinese state, while Snapchat has been criticised for not removing more underage users from its platform.
Ofcom’s annual report on attitudes towards media found children’s usage of YouTube, Whatsapp and Instagram remained steady (88%, 55% and 41%, respectively), while the popularity of Meta’s Facebook platform declined (from 40% to 34%).
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“Children of all ages reported choosing to watch ‘dramatic’ content in various forms when selecting TV shows and films to watch,” the report said. Ofcom also found the proportion of three- and four-year-olds using Snapchat had risen to 17% in 2022, up from 12% the previous year.
A TikTok spokesperson said government bans were based on “fundamental misconceptions” around TikTok’s safety protocols.
A Snap spokesperson said criticism of its record on underage users misrepresented its efforts, saying it blocks and deletes tens of thousands of attempts by underage UK users to create Snapchat accounts monthly.
Blocking children
Snapchat is kicking dozens of children in Britain off its platform each month compared with tens of thousands blocked by rival TikTok, according to internal data the companies shared with Ofcom.
Ahead of Britain’s planned Online Safety Bill, aimed at protecting social media users from harmful content such as child pornography, Ofcom asked TikTok and Snapchat how many suspected under-13s they had kicked off their platforms in a year.
According to the data, TikTok told Ofcom that between April 2021 and April 2022, it had blocked an average of around 180,000 suspected underage accounts in Britain every month, or around 2 million in that 12-month period.
In the same period, Snapchat disclosed that it had removed approximately 60 accounts per month, or just over 700 in total.
Recent Ofcom research suggests both apps are similarly popular with underage users. Children are also more likely to set up their own private account on Snapchat, rather than use a parent’s, when compared to TikTok.
