TikTok is facing a multimillion‑euro fine in the EU for serious failures in child safety

As we were saying yesterday (yesterday, quite literally), the European Commission is on a roll, on fire, brimming with energy this sweltering summer, and it has issued another warning to one of the major tech companies operating in our market. This time, it is not a finalized fine (yet), but it is a serious warning that could end up becoming one of the largest penalties in its history. The company in the spotlight this time? TikTok.

TikTok may have breached the Digital Services Act by failing to ensure safe accounts for minors

Since their launch, the DSA and DMA have become two of the European Commission’s benchmark laws for bringing order to European digital markets, allowing it to take action against giants the size of Google or Meta. This time, TikTok has been accused (preliminarily) of breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA), as its accounts for minors “do not meet the required safety standards.”

Specifically, the Brussels-based body explains that minors on TikTok can currently set their accounts to public, which allows any user, including those without a TikTok account, to view their content. This setting also allows content posted by minors to be recommended to other TikTok users through the “For You” section.

At the heart of the issue is the Commission’s concern that this exposure could lead to unwanted contact from potential abusers and the risk that the content could be used for cyberbullying. “This feature potentially allows strangers to access a minor’s life,” it explains, before noting that “this feature carries risks with potentially lifelong consequences.”

What TikTok is facing

The Commission is asking the social platform to adjust the default settings for minors’ public accounts so that their content is visible by default only to TikTok users the minor has accepted. In addition, TikTok should refrain from recommending minors’ content to other TikTok users through the “For You” section.

If the situation is not remedied, the EU body could impose a fine whose amount would depend on the nature, severity, frequency, and duration of the infringement, of up to 6% of annual global revenue. TikTok is a private subsidiary of its parent company ByteDance and does not independently publish official financial breakdowns publicly. However, market estimates from analytics firms point to global revenue of around $33.1 billion.

Image: ChatGPT