European Union regulators announced Friday that TikTok fell short of its obligations to protect children’s privacy, finding that the platform allowed adult users to access and view accounts belonging to minors.
According to the European Commission, this failure put children at risk of cyberbullying, unwanted contact from strangers, and predatory behavior.
The ruling is the latest in a series of enforcement actions taken by Brussels against major technology companies. The EU has been at the forefront of global efforts to regulate Big Tech, having previously taken action against companies including Meta and Apple.
TikTok will now be given the opportunity to respond to the findings and present its defense.
If regulators are not satisfied with the Chinese company’s response, they could issue a formal non-compliance decision and impose a fine of up to 6% of TikTok’s total annual worldwide revenue.
This is not the first time TikTok has run afoul of EU digital regulations. Back in February, the 27-nation bloc found that TikTok had violated another section of its digital rulebook by designing its platform with addictive features — such as autoplay videos and infinite scrolling — that regulators said could harm the physical and mental well-being of users, particularly minors.
