Source: European Parliament
The Digital Services Act (DSA)[1] aims at creating a safe, predictable and trusted online environment.
There are currently two open formal proceedings against TikTok under the DSA[2].
The first proceedings, opened on 19 February 2024, examine TikTok’s management of systemic risks arising from its system design, particularly how algorithms could foster behavioural addictions and ‘rabbit hole effects’ and their potential impact on mental and physical well-being, children’s rights and radicalisation processes.
They also assess TikTok’s measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors, advertising transparency by providing a searchable ad repository, and accessibility to public data for researchers.[3]
The second proceedings, launched on 17 December 2024, scrutinises TikTok’s role in managing risks to electoral processes and civic discourse.
It focuses on TikTok’s risks linked to its recommender systems, notably to the coordinated inauthentic manipulation or automated exploitation of the service. Additionally, it assesses TikTok’s policies on political advertisements and paid political content[4].
The Commission is gathering and analysing evidence as regards both proceedings. The duration of such in-depth investigations depends on several factors, including the complexity of the case.
Should the Commission establish a breach of the DSA, it may adopt a decision imposing fines up to 6% of the global turnover of the provider concerned and order that appropriate measures are taken.
As a last resort measure, if the infringement persists and causes serious harm to users and entails criminal offences involving threat to persons’ life or safety, the Commission can request the temporary suspension of the service[5].
- [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM:4625430.
- [2] Besides, on 5 August 2024, the Commission closed a case against TikTok after the company made binding commitments to withdraw the TikTok Lite Rewards Programme, which had been launched without adequate risk assessment and effective risk mitigation measures. See: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_4161.
- [3] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_926.
- [4] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_6487.
- [5] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/dsa-enforcement.