An official investigation into TikTok‘s adherence to the Digital Services Act (DSA), a comprehensive framework for online governance and content monitoring, has been launched by the European Union. The Commission launched the probe, which would look into a number of issues, such as protecting children, advertising transparency, giving researchers access to data, and controlling harmful content and addictive design.
TikTok’s Additional Requirements and DSA Regulations
The Digital Society Act (DSA), which went into force on Saturday, is the EU’s manual for content management and online governance. Since last summer, TikTok and other larger platforms have been subject to new standards covering things like algorithmic transparency and systemic risk. The focus of TikTok’s current investigation is possible violations of these particular guidelines.
Areas of Investigation
The Commission is investigating TikTok’s adherence to the DSA in a number of important areas. First, the focus is on safeguarding minors, looking at the platform’s privacy and child safety features. The inquiry also explores advertising transparency, evaluating if TikTok satisfies the DSA need to offer a dependable and searchable repository for ads on its site.
The risk management of hazardous content and addictive design, including possible side effects from TikTok’s system architecture such behavioral addictions and “rabbit hole effects,” is of particular concern to the Commission. The analysis will assess whether using the site could negatively affect users’ mental and physical health as well as have an impact on radicalization processes.
The effectiveness of TikTok’s mitigation mechanisms, like age verification tools, in shielding kids from objectionable content is another topic covered by the research. The reasonableness, proportionality, and effectiveness of these actions in relation to DSA duties will be evaluated by the Commission.
Transparency and Data Access Concerns
Concerns about transparency surrounding TikTok’s distribution of publicly accessible data to researchers looking into systemic hazards in the EU are also being examined. The EU wonders if TikTok’s introduction of an advertising library last summer and the growth of its research API fully complies with DSA transparency standards.
Penalties for confirmed DSA violations can reach 6% of a company’s yearly global turnover. With 135.9 million active users in the EU each month, TikTok is currently the focus of a thorough study, the length of which will depend on a number of variables. In response, the platform emphasized its dedication to teen safety, privacy protection, and its readiness to assist the Commission with its inquiry.
