ROME, March 14 (Reuters) - Italy's antitrust regulator

AGCM said on Thursday it has fined three TikTok units 10 million

euros ($10.94 million) in total for not adequately checking

content on its platform which could be harmful for young or

vulnerable users.

TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, and other social

media companies including Facebook and Instagram parent Meta

Platforms ( META ), are under pressure from regulators around

the globe to protect underage users.

"TikTok has not taken adequate measures to prevent the

spreading of such content, and has not fully complied with the

guidelines it has adopted, reassuring customers that the

platform is a 'safe' space," AGCM said in a statement.

It added that certain content by TikTok, specifically

so-called challenges, could put at risk minors or vulnerable

people.

The Italian regulator referred to videos showing young

people performing a dangerous practice known as the "French

scar", a challenge popular among users which involves pinching

cheeks to leave a lasting bruise on the cheekbone.

Last month Italy's communications authority AGCOM - a

separate regulator - had forced TikTok to remove the videos.

AGCM said that the content, though potentially dangerous, is

also spread through profiling algorithms "and this can cause

undue conditioning of users who are encouraged to use the

platform more and more."

TikTok was not immediately available for comment.

In the United States, where it has about 170 million users,

the social media app faces a ban unless its Chinese owners sell

within about six months, under the terms of a draft bill passed

by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday.

($1 = 0.9142 euros)