Sean Gallup/Getty Images News
The European Commission has launched an investigation into TikTok, owned by ByteDance (BDNCE), into whether the Chinese-owned short video app follows online content rules aimed at safeguarding children.
The investigation will examine possible violations of the Digital Services Take action, and if found guilty, TikTok could be fined up to 6% of its total global revenue or risk being banned.
This was stated by Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market probe would focus on “suspected violations of transparency and child protection obligations: compelling design and screen time limits, rabbit hole effect, age verification, default privacy settings.”
The “rabbit hole effect” refers to algorithmic systems that can trigger behavioral addictions. The investigation will also examine whether TikTok provides a reliable database of advertisements on its app to allow scrutiny of potential threats.
“TikTok pioneered features and settings to protect teens and keep children under 13 off the platform,” a company spokesperson told Seeking Alpha. “We will continue to work with experts to keep young people safe on TikTok and look forward to the opportunity to explain this work in detail to the Commission.”
Recall that last year, the UK’s privacy regulator fined TikTok $16 million for failing to protect children’s data.