Brussels announced this Monday that it had opened an investigation targeting the social network TikTok for alleged failings in the protection of minors.
This is the DSA's second investigation following Elon Musk's social media platform X in December.
The European Commission explained that it had opened “a formal procedure” to determine whether TikTok, owned by the Chinese group Byte Dance, infringed the Digital Services Regulation (DSA).
The concerns of the European digital policeman relate in particular to “the protection of minors”, “the transparency of advertising”, “access to data for researchers” as well as the “risks linked to the addictive design” of the platform and “harmful content”.
“As a platform reaching millions of children and adolescents, TikTok has a special role to play in the protection of minors online”, which is “one of the main priorities of the DSA”, declared the European Commissioner at the Internal Market, Thierry Breton.
This “infringement procedure” should allow the Commission to ensure that TikTok takes the necessary measures “to protect the physical and emotional well-being of young Europeans”.
Today we open an investigation into #TikTok over suspected breach of transparency & obligations to protect minors:
📱Addictive design & screen time limits
🕳️ Rabbit hole effect
🔞 Age verification
🔐 Default privacy settings
Enforcing #DSA for safer Internet for youngsters pic.twitter.com /4d2F0FQUHw
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) February 19, 2024
The DSA came into full force on Saturday with obligations now imposed on all online platforms, under penalty of fines, to better protect users against illegal content.
The opening of the investigation targeting TikTok follows a request for information sent at the beginning of November by the Commission to the video sharing platform.
TikTok was required in particular to detail “the measures taken to comply with its obligations regarding the protection of minors”.
The European investigation will focus in particular on the means implemented to reduce the risks of “behavioral dependence”, an accusation regularly made to Chinese social media.
It also involves examining “the age verification tools used by TikTok to prevent minors from accessing inappropriate content”.
Also read: TikTok banned in Nepal, accused of being harmful to “social harmony”
The regulation on digital services has already applied since the end of August to the most powerful companies like X, TikTok as well as the main services of Meta (Facebook, Instagram), Apple, Google, Microsoft or Amazon.
In principle.
But the European Union opened a formal investigation in December targeting Elon Musk's social network suspected of failing to fulfill its obligations in the fight against disinformation, the circulation of violent images or incitement to hatred.
In total, 22 very large internet players, including three pornographic sites, were placed under the direct surveillance of the European Commission, which recruited more than a hundred experts in Brussels to assume its new role as digital policeman. .
If TikTok is found guilty of violating the DSA, it could be fined up to 6% of its global turnover, like any violator, or even banned from operating in Europe in the event of violations. severe and repeated.
The platform is used by 21.4 million French people each month.