The European Commission accuses TikTok of breaching the Digital Services Act’s rules on children
Brussels has criticised the way children’s accounts are managed on TikTok, citing risks of exposure and cyberbullying, and has announced possible sanctions and new rules to protect young people online.
From our correspondent Beda Romano
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BRUSSELS – Hardly a day goes by now without the European Commission launching a new initiative in the digital sector. The European Commission announced today, Friday 24 July, that it is considering TikTok to be in breach of the Digital Services Act with regard to the rules applicable to accounts managed by minors. The company has the opportunity to respond to the European Commission’s findings. If the explanations provided are deemed insufficient, Brussels could impose a fine.
According to the EU Commission, minors on TikTok can choose to set their account to ‘public’. This means that any user, including those without a TikTok account, may be able to view their content. This setting also allows content posted by minors classified as ‘older’ (aged between 16 and 17) to be recommended to any other user on the Chinese platform.
“This visibility could lead to unwanted contact from potential abusers and the risk that the content could be used for cyberbullying,” explains Brussels. “This feature potentially gives strangers a window into a child’s life. Furthermore, as what children post could remain online forever and follow them into adulthood, the feature carries the risk of consequences that could last a lifetime.”
“Children deserve a safe experience from the moment they go online,” explains Henna Virkkunen, Vice-President of the European Commission, in a press release. “The Digital Services Act requires platforms to build in measures to protect children when designing their services and holds them accountable if they fail to do so. A high level of protection should not be an optional extra, but should be the default setting.”
The European Commission itself confirmed in mid-July that it intends to present a legislative proposal this autumn to regulate young people’s access to the internet. The forthcoming proposal will be based on recommendations put forward by a group of experts who, in a report, suggest a phased approach, depending on the user’s age and the content of the website, whilst limiting access to the internet as much as possible for children under the age of 13 (see *Il Sole/24 Ore* of 14 July).
