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The social media platform TikTok has been fined £12.7m for failing to protect the privacy of underage children using the app.

An investigation carried out by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which oversees data privacy in the UK, found TikTok had broken the law.

TikTok's rules say children 12 and under aren't allowed to create an account, but the ICO says TikTok allowed up to 1.4 million UK children under 13 to use its platform in 2020.

According to the ICO, that means TikTok used the the data, or information, of children under the age of 13 without getting appropriate consent from their parents, which isn't against the law.

The data breaches are said to have happened between May 2018 and July 2020.

The fine issued to TikTok by the ICO is one of the largest, although it's about half of what the regulator threatened to fine the company last year.

"There are laws in place to make sure our children are as safe in the digital world as they are in the physical world. TikTok did not abide by those laws," said the UK information commissioner John Edwards.

That means that "an estimated one million under 13s were inappropriately granted access to the platform, with TikTok collecting and using their personal data... (which) may have been used to track them and profile them, potentially delivering harmful, inappropriate content at their very next scroll."

"TikTok should have known better, TikTok should have done better. Our £12.7m fine reflects the serious impact their failures may have had."

He said the platform did not do enough to check who was using the app or to remove underage children.

TikTok has said it disagrees with the ICO's decision to fine the company.

"We invest heavily to help keep under 13s off the platform and our 40,000 strong safety team works around the clock to help keep the platform safe for our community," a spokesperson for the platform said.

"While we disagree with the ICO's decision, which relates to May 2018 - July 2020, we are pleased that the fine announced today has been reduced to under half the amount proposed last year.

"We will continue to review the decision and are considering next steps."

It's not the first time TikTok has come under fire for how it has used children's information.

In 2019, the company was fined $5.7 million in the US (£4.5 million) for similar practices related to the improper collection and use of information from children under 13.