Did TikTok Breach Online Content Rules? New EU Investigation Set To Grill Social Media Giant

The EU is known for its stringent regulations and for making sure social media giants stay in check. And the latest target in this regard seems to be ByteDance’s popular app TikTok.

New reports have alleged how evidence has been found regarding TikTok breaching online content regulations. The latter were designed to ensure children remain protected at all times and that advertising stays transparent as confirmed by one official familiar with the matter on Monday.

He says that this might put the social media app instead of heavy fines that serve as punishments.

As confirmed by the industry’s chief, he mentioned how a decision was taken after analysis of a short video that assessed the risks involved in such reports. It featured plenty of replies for data as confirmed by one story by Reuters.

As revealed on X, the chief for industries in the EU, Thierry Breton mentioned how he was analyzing short videos, and only then did he choose to move ahead with this investigation.

He says that the board has great obligations to make sure minors remain safe at all times when they are online. But with TikTok carrying on with this behavior, it’s getting harder to do so and that is why it’s going to be under more scrutiny.

The goal is to protect minors and ensure they have limited screen time that their age is verified and that the app has the right privacy settings as default in place. As confirmed by the DSA, it also mentioned how it’s going to apply to a wide array of online apps so that it could better tackle unlawful content and any risks to the general public along the way.

The head of TikTok says the app that hails from parent firm ByteDance might face fines that go up to 6% of the overall global turnover. And that’s if the company is termed guilty of breaking DSA regulations.

The leading app has rolled out a response on this front and how it’s likely to continue working with professionals in the industry. And that the leading tech giant of the industry is doing everything in its power to ensure minors remain safe at all times. It looks forward to providing greater explanations on how the work will roll out in detail when you look at the EC.

TikTok then boasted about how it has pioneered features so that teens remain safe and those below 13 are well away from the app as they’re too young. It’s an issue that TikTok feels not only it but many other leading platforms are forced to deal with.

The current investigation will ensure the focus of the app’s system including a wide array of algorithm systems that stimulate addictions and give rise to rabbit-hole effects.

TikTok would similarly be probed on whether or not it has the right measures in place to ensure privacy and safety remain for minors. Another point of concern that investigators will be looking at is whether the app has installed the right database for ads to function, whereby researchers can better scrutinize any online risks taking place.

This is the second time that we’ve seen the DSA investigate leading tech giants that have a huge fanbase when it comes to the younger user population. We’ve already seen them put the leading app of Elon Musk, X, formerly Twitter, in the hot seat after finding evidence of similar breaches of the DSA in December of last year.

Photo: Digital Information World - AIgen

Read next: Concerns On The Rise As Generative AI Tools Predicted To Steal Google’s Market Share
Previous Post Next Post