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The European Union (EU) has launched a formal investigation into TikTok over a suspected breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA). The Commission suspects that the social media app may have failed to abide by its rules aimed at protecting children, among other things. It opened legal proceedings following a preliminary investigation, an analysis of the risk assessment report from the firm, and its replies to the Commission’s requests for information.
TikTok under investigation over suspected breach of child protection laws
The EU’s investigation into TikTok will focus on areas such as the protection of minors, age verification, screen time limits, default privacy settings, ad transparency, data access for researchers, risk management of addictive design, rabbit hole effect, and harmful content. The Commission will look into the firm’s measures for the privacy, safety, and security of minors, including the default privacy settings and functioning of its recommendation systems.
It will also look at whether TikTok is complying with DSA obligations to provide a searchable and reliable repository for ads shown to its users. Additionally, the firm will be under scrutiny over its measures to increase the transparency of its platform. “The investigation concerns suspected shortcomings in giving researchers access to TikTok’s publicly accessible data as mandated by Article 40 of the DSA,” the European Commission said in a press release.
TikTok’s “addictive” design is also under investigation from the EU. The European lawmakers want to determine if there are any “actual or foreseeable negative effects stemming from the design of TikTok’s system.” They suspect its algorithmic system “may stimulate behavioral addictions and/or create so-called ‘rabbit hole effects’.” Last but not least, the EU will investigate TikTok’s measures to prevent access by minors to inappropriate content.
TikTok faces massive fine if found guilty
The European Commission will carry out an in-depth investigation into all of this as a matter of priority. If found guilty in one or more accounts of breaching DSA rules, which apply to all online intermediaries in the EU since February 17, TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance could face fines of up to 6% of its global turnover.
The firm, meanwhile, says it actively works with industry experts to keep young people on its platform safe. It is looking forward to explaining its privacy measures and systems to European lawmakers. “TikTok has pioneered features and settings to protect teens and keep under 13s off the platform, issues the whole industry is grappling with,” a TikTok spokesperson said. It may take some time before the investigation concludes.
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