Several consumer associations in Europe announced Tuesday the filing of a complaint against the social network TikTok, accused of exploiting the rights and data of users, often very young.
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The European Bureau of Consumers' Unions (BEUC), which brings together several consumer associations on the Old Continent, will seize the Commission to launch an investigation into the practices of this very popular video-sharing application, the association said on Tuesday. French UFC-Que Choisir in a press release.
Trade war
Between the trade war between Beijing and Washington, and various facts, the popular application of light videos is regularly singled out across the world.
TikTok had restricted the privacy settings of its users aged 13 to 15 in mid-January a few days after observers accused its algorithm of promoting access to sexualized videos featuring minors.
The Italian authorities had for their part blocked the access to the network at the end of January to users whose age is not guaranteed, after the death of a 10-year-old girl in Sicily who participated in the "
headscarf game
" on the network. social.
The UFC-Que Choisir believes that the social network "
does not succeed
" in protecting young people and cites breaches in the protection against hidden advertising and "
potentially dangerous
" content.
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In addition, the platform accepts registrations from 13 years old, yet 45% of children under this age indicated using the application in France, says Que Choisir.
The UFC also denounces "
the deceptive system
" of "
virtual gifts
" aimed at rewarding the favorite videos of Internet users.
TikTok "
makes every effort to make the user forget that it is real money
," says the UFC, calling these practices "
detestable
."
The association also believes that user data is "
overexploited
", "
contrary to the obligations of the RGPD
", the regulation which guarantees users certain rights over their data.
“
Very concretely, TikTok gives itself the right to do what it wants with the published videos: use them, modify them, reproduce them without users having a say,
” says Que Choisir.
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