European Union regulators announced Friday that ByteDance-owned TikTok is facing formal charges for violating the EU’s online content laws, with officials saying the platform’s design leaves children vulnerable to predators and cyberbullying.
The allegations fall under the Digital Services Act, a law that requires major technology companies to take stronger action against illegal and harmful content. This is the fourth time in two years that TikTok has faced charges under these regulations.
The European Commission, which enforces EU technology rules, said TikTok’s account settings do not meet the safety standards required under the law. Specifically, regulators pointed out that the platform allows children to set their accounts to public, which can expose them to cyberbullying or unwanted contact from potential abusers.
Officials also noted that even accounts set to private are not fully safe, because children can still be discovered through the ‘following’ and ‘followers’ lists of other users — and that this is possible even for people who don’t have a TikTok account themselves.
The Commission said TikTok should change the default settings for minors so that their content is only visible to users the child has approved.
In response, TikTok said it would look over the EU’s findings and cooperate with the regulator. The company defended its existing protections, stating: “Teen accounts on TikTok have more than 50 preset privacy and safety features, informed by experts, from the moment they set up an account.”
The platform also said: “Under 18 accounts are private by default and we are one of the only platforms where younger teens cannot use direct messaging or have their content eligible to appear in the For You feed.”
TikTok now has the opportunity to review the Commission’s documents and submit a response before any final decision is made. If found in violation, the company could be fined up to 6% of its total global annual revenue.
The EU’s tech chief weighed in on the matter, saying: “The Digital Services Act requires platforms to build protections for minors into the design of their services, and holds them to account when they fail to do so. A high level of protection should not be an opt-in; it should be the default.”
TikTok previously made concessions to avoid fines in two earlier cases, while a third case against the company remains unresolved.
