19 February 2024
The EU Commission have opened an investigation into TikTok for potential breaches of the Digital Services Act (DSA)'s online content rules.
Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, announced on X that the investigation will look into whether TikTok meets DSA requirements around:
Transparency
Obligations to protect minors
Addictive design and screen time limits
The "rabbit hole effect"
Age verification
Default privacy settings
The investigation will look at TikTok’s algorithmic systems, which may stimulate addictive behaviour or create “rabbit-hole effects,” according to Reuters.
It follows the Commission’s analysis of TikTok’s risk assessment report and replies to requests for information, made under the DSA last year.
DSA rules have applied to designated platforms with more than 45 million users in the EU (“very large online platforms” or “very large online search engines”) since August 2023, and to all platforms since 17 February 2024.
TikTok could face fines of up to 6% global turnover if found to have breached DSA requirements.
With the investigation announced soon after the DSA came into force, it’s clear the Commission intends to enforce the online safety requirements of the Act fully. We can expect more investigations in the coming months as the Digital Services Package comes into full force….