The European Commission has initiated a formal process to assess whether TikTok has violated the Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas such as the protection of minors, advertising transparency, access to researcher data, and risk management of addictive designs and harmful content. Based on the preliminary investigations conducted to date, including an analysis of the risk assessment report sent by TikTok in September 2023, and TikTok's response to the Commission's official request for information on illegal content, protection of minors, and access to data, the Commission decided to make the above decision under the Digital Services Act.
The survey will focus on the following areas:
Design of the TikTok system (including algorithmic systems).may stimulate behavioral addiction and or produce so-called"The rabbit hole effect", from actual or foreseeableNegative effects, compliance with DSA obligations related to assessing and mitigating systemic risks. Such an assessment is required in response to the exercisePersonal physical and mental healthFundamental Rightsand respect for children's rightspotential risks and itsImpact on the radicalization process. In addition, the mitigation measures taken in this regard, in particular the use of TikTok to prevent minors from accessing inappropriate contentAge verification toolsmay not be reasonable, disproportionate and effective;
Comply with the obligations set out in the Daily Life Service Agreement and take appropriate and proportionate measuresEnsure that minors enjoy a high level of privacy, safety, and security, in particular with regard to the default privacy settings for minors as part of the design and operation of their referral systems;
Fulfill DSA obligations,forTikTokAds provide a searchable and reliable library of resources
The steps taken by TikTok to increase the transparency of its platform. The investigation involves:InPermitted under Section 40 of the Digital Copyright ActResearchers access to TikTok public data aspectsSuspected of existingDefects
The protection of minors is DSA's primary enforcement priority. "EU Commissioner Thierry Breton said in the document:"As a platform that reaches millions of children and teens, TikTok must fully comply with the Digital Safety Act and play a special role in protecting minors online. "
This is the second survey conducted by the DSA, following Elon Musk's social **platform X. If found to have violated DSA rules, Tik Tok faces a fine of up to 6% of its global turnover.
Read the full European Commission press release: