TikTok and Meta in the crosshairs of Brussels: 'Violate transparency rules'
The lunge: researchers are not guaranteed adequate access to public data
by Beda Romano
Key points
FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT - Brussels
Against a backdrop of continuing tensions with the United States and China on various political and economic fronts, the European Union has accused two digital platforms, the American Meta and the Chinese TikTok, of violating the Digital Content Regulation, known as the Digital Services Act (DSA). Both companies will now have to respond to the findings of the European Commission. The two companies risk heavy fines.
The objections
First of all, the EU executive reproaches the two digital giants for not granting researchers adequate access to their internal data, despite the fact that European legislation obliges them to do so for reasons of transparency. The procedures for accessing such data would be too long and discouraging, complicating the work of independent researchers who wish to deal with issues of public interest, such as the protection of minors online or disinformation.
At the same time, Brussels accused Meta of failing to put in place easily accessible and user-friendly mechanisms for reporting and dealing with illegal content on Facebook and Instagram, as required by the DSA. Platforms must allow any person or entity to request the removal of content they deem to be illegal (such as hate speech, publications glorifying terrorism or child pornography images).
According to the European Commission, the reporting procedure on Facebook and Instagram would be dissuasive, with multiple steps to take and misleading interfaces (dark patterns, in English) that confuse users. This aspect is not trivial. Usually and at first glance, platforms are not responsible for the content disseminated by their users, except when these are reported. From that moment on, platforms have an obligation to act.
