The EU has opened an investigation into TikTok over concerns around the protection of minors, advertising policy and privacy.
The European Commission announced on February 19 that it was opening formal proceedings to assess whether the social media platform has breached the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
The investigation will focus on several areas, including:
- Assessing whether TikTok has implemented the required mitigation of systemic risks, including algorithmic systems, that may stimulate behavioral addictions and/ or create so-called ‘rabbit hole effects' – i.e., the tendency to become engrossed in something, usually online, to the point of losing track of time and neglecting other responsibilities.
- Assessing whether TikTok has put appropriate and proportionate measures in place to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors, particularly regarding default privacy settings for minors.
- Assessing whether TikTok has provided a searchable and reliable repository for advertisements presented on its platform.
- Assessing the measures taken by TikTok to increase the transparency of its platform.
Failures to these requirements would breach articles 34(1), 34(2), 35(1) 28(1), 39(1) and 40(12) of the DSA.
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