TikTok is now the most popular single source of news for children aged 12 to 15, according to figures from Ofcom.

A new study from the regulator found that the social media platform is used by 28 per cent of younger teenagers, closely followed by YouTube and Instagram which each have a 25 per cent share of the market.

However, the broadcasting watchdog said that taking into account all news content across its platforms – including TV, BBC iPlayer, Radio, and its websites – the BBC still has the highest reach of any news organisation, with a share of 39 per cent.

Social media platforms were also shown to dominate the top five most popular news sources among 16 to 24-year-olds. Instagram was shown to be the most popular, with a 44 per cent share, while Facebook and the BBC both took a 33 per cent share of this age group.

The report also revealed that older teens and young adults aged 16-24 are much more likely to consume news online than adults generally – 83 per cent vs 68 per cent – and usually, it’s via social media on their mobile phones – 63 per cent vs 39 per cent.

Ofcom said that people in this age group are also much less likely than the average adult to access news content from traditional media sources, such as TV – 47 per cent vs 70 per cent –, radio – 25 per cent vs 40 per cent – and print newspapers – 16 per cent vs 26 per cent.

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