The European Commission has announced a formal procedure to assess whether TikTok may have infringed the Digital Services Act (DSL) in the areas of protection of minors, advertising transparency, access to data by researchers and management of the risk of addictive designs and harmful content.
Brussels relies on a preliminary investigation for this initiative on the short video social network and includes an analysis of the risk assessment report provided to it by TikTok in September 2023. The procedure against the social network takes into account the responses that TikTok has given to the formal requests made by the European Commission regarding illegal content, protection of minors and access to data.
The Commission’s procedure will assess the “real or foreseeable negative effects arising from the design of TikTok’s system, including algorithmic systems, which may stimulate behavioral addictions and/or create so-called “rabbit hole effects””. That is, it will try to determine if the social network’s algorithm, based on the data it has on each user, provides content that leads to addictive behavior in the continuous viewing of videos.
According to Brussels, “this evaluation is necessary to counteract the potential risks for the exercise of the fundamental right to the physical and mental well-being of the person, respect for the rights of the child, as well as its impact on radicalization processes.”
The new investigation will also look at whether TikTok meets its legal obligations in Europe to provide a searchable and reliable repository for ads presented on the platform, as it considers that there have been “alleged deficiencies in giving researchers access to the public access data of TikTok, as established in article 40 of the DSA.”
TikTok was designated a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) in April 2023 under the EU Digital Services Act, as it had 135.9 million monthly active users in European Union countries on that date. Four months after this designation, the platform had to begin to comply with a series of obligations established in the Digital Services Law.
Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said: “As a platform that reaches millions of children and adolescents, TikTok must fully comply with the DSA and has a particular role to play in protecting minors online.” “We are launching this formal infringement procedure today to ensure that proportionate measures are taken to protect the physical and emotional well-being of young Europeans. We must spare no effort to protect our children.”
For her part, Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president for a Europe adapted to the digital age, said that “the safety and well-being of Internet users in Europe is crucial. TikTok must carefully examine the services it offers and carefully consider the risks.” that it poses to its users, both young and old. The Commission will now carry out an in-depth investigation without prejudice to the outcome.”
