The European Union EU officially investigates TikTok ,whether TikTok complies with the Digital Services Act (DSA) , as announced by the Commission.
Areas of focus for the Commission in this TikTok investigation relate to the protection of minors , transparency in advertising, access to data for researchers, and managing the risks of addictive design and harmful content , reports a press release.
The DSA is blockchain’s rulebook for online governance and content control, and as of last Saturday it had been widely implemented across potentially thousands of platforms and services. However, since last summer, larger platforms such as TikTok have faced a series of additional requirements in areas such as algorithmic transparency and systemic risk, and it is these rules under which the video-sharing platform is now being investigated.
Today’s move comes after months of information gathering by the Commission to apply DSA rules to the largest platforms, including requiring TikTok to provide information on areas such as child protection and the risk of misinformation.
However, the EU had concerns about TikTok’s approach to content governance and security even before the DSA took effect on large platforms. In June 2022, TikTok was also forced to make some operational adjustments after regional consumer protection agencies jointly investigated child safety and privacy complaints.
The commission will now step up its demands on the video-sharing platform while investigating the series of alleged breaches. This may also include conducting interviews and examinations, as well as asking her to send more data.
The EU has no official deadline for completing these in-depth investigations – its press release simply notes that the duration depends on a number of factors, including “the complexity of the case, the extent of the companies concerned’s cooperation with the Commission and the exercise of defense rights “.
TikTok was asked to comment on the official investigation:
TikTok pioneered features and regulations to protect teenagers and prevent children under 13 from using the platform, an issue the entire industry is grappling with. We will continue to work with experts and industry to keep young people safe on TikTok and look forward to the opportunity now to explain this work in detail to the committee.
The Commission said in the announcement that its review of TikTok’s compliance with DSA obligations in the area of systemic risk will consider ” actual or foreseeable adverse effects ” stemming from the design of its systems, including algorithms. The EU is concerned that TikTok’s user environment may ” stimulate behavioral addiction .
“ Such an assessment is needed to address potential risks to the exercise of one’s fundamental rights to physical and mental health, respect for children’s rights and their impact on the radicalization process, ” he further wrote.
The committee is also concerned that TikTok’s countermeasures to protect children from accessing inappropriate content, namely age verification tools, “may be inappropriate, disproportionate and effective”.
As such, it will also consider whether TikTok complies with the DSA’s “obligation to take appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, security and protection for minors, in particular default privacy settings for minors in this context” . “Design and Operation of Recommendation Systems”. Elsewhere, the department’s investigation will examine whether TikTok met the DSA’s requirement to provide a “searchable and reliable repository” for ads running on its platform.
Additionally, on transparency, the Commission said its investigation relates to ” possible shortcomings on behalf of TikTok in providing researchers with access to publicly available data on its platform so that they can study systemic risks in the EU – such data access is covered by Article 40 of the DSA stipulated in the article.
Commenting on her remarks, Margrethe Vestager Digital Executive Vice President said:
The safety and well-being of European online users is of paramount importance. TikTok needs to take a closer look at the services it offers and carefully consider the risks they pose to users, young and old. The committee will now conduct a thorough investigation without prejudging the outcome.
In a separate supporting statement, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton stressed:
The protection of minors is DSA’s top law enforcement priority. As a platform that reaches millions of children and teenagers, TikTok must fully comply with the DSA and play a special role in protecting minors online. We are launching this formal infringement procedure today to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to protect the physical and mental health of Europe’s young people. We should not hesitate to do everything we can to protect our children.
This is the second such lawsuit under the DSA, after the organization launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) in December, which also cited concerns.
Penalties for confirmed violations of the DSA can range up to 6% of global annual turnover. Once an investigation is launched, EU law enforcement officers also have access to a wider toolbox, such as the ability to take interim measures pending the completion of formal proceedings.
The EU can also accept commitments provided by platforms under investigation as long as they aim to address the issues identified.
About twenty platforms are subject to the DSA’s algorithmic transparency and systemic risk rules. These platforms are defined as those with more than 45 million monthly active users in the region. In the case of TikTok, the platform notified the EU last year that it had 135.9 million monthly active users in the EU.
The European Commission’s decision to launch a child protection investigation into TikTok means that Ireland’s media regulator, which is responsible for overseeing TikTok’s compliance with the remaining rules of the DSA, will be affected by the country’s decentralized enforcement structure designed by the EU to enforce most regulations. , will be unable to intervene and supervise the platform’s compliance in this regard. It will be entirely up to the committee to assess whether TikTok has taken “appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, security and protection of minors.
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