In this June 5, 2013 file photo, MTV executive Van Toffler poses at the 2013 CMT Music Awards at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Invision/AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) --
Veteran MTV executive Van Toffler says that he's leaving the network where he's worked for almost 28 years.
Toffler began in the business department at MTV in 1987 and rose to his current job as president of Viacom's Music and Logo Group, meaning he supervises MTV, MTV2, VHI, VHI Classic, CMT and Logo. He said he will leave in April, but will still help produce some events like the "MTV Video Music Awards."
"To be clear, this is a very personal decision about pursuing the loud and insatiable part of my failed musician/poet soul that needs to purely make great stuff," Toffler said in a note to MTV staff on Tuesday.
A visitor passes the TikTok exhibition stands at the Gamescom computer gaming fair in Cologne, Germany, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
The U.K.'s data protection watchdog said Monday that it's investigating how TikTok uses the personal information of teenagers to deliver content recommendations to them when they use the social media platform.
The Information Commissioner's Office said that there are growing concerns around how social media platforms were using data generated by children's online activity to power their recommendation algorithms, and the potential for young people to see inappropriate or harmful content as a result.
The regulator said that it wanted to ensure the robustness of TikTok's safety procedures when it comes to using the personal information of teens ranging in age from 13 to 17.
"It's what they're collecting, it's how they work," information commissioner John Edwards said. "I will expect to find that there will be many benign and positive uses of children's data in their recommender systems."
"What I am concerned about is whether they are sufficiently robust to prevent children being exposed to harm, either from addictive practices on the device or the platform, or from content that they see, or from other unhealthy practices," he said.
As part of the investigation, the regulator will also look into how online forum site Reddit and image-sharing site Imgur use children's personal data and how they estimate or verify a child's age.
TikTok, which is operated by Chinese technology firm ByteDance, said in a statement that it was "deeply committed to ensuring a positive experience for young people on TikTok."
"Our recommender systems are designed and operate under strict and comprehensive measures that protect the privacy and safety of teens, including industry-leading safety features and robust restrictions on the content... Read More
