The European Commission has sent social media giant TikTok preliminary findings indicating that TikTok accounts of minors do not meet safety standards required under the EU’s internet rules.
The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) requires platforms to build protections for minors into the design of their services, and holds them to account when they fail to do so. “A high level of protection should not be an opt-in; it should be the default”, said EC executive vice-president Henna Virkkunen: “This is our responsibility for current and future generations of European children.”
Minors can choose to set their TikTok account as ‘public’. This means that any user, even without a TikTok account, may be able to view minors’ content. This setting also allows content published by ‘older’ minors (16-17 years old) to be recommended to any other TikTok user through the For You Feed.
This exposure could result in unwanted contact from potential perpetrators and a risk that content can be used for cyberbullying, says the Commission. The feature potentially gives strangers a window into a child’s life. In addition, since what minors publish may stay online forever and follow them into adulthood, the feature comes with risks of potentially life-long consequences.
Even when minors choose ‘private’ accounts, the Commission notes that their accounts can be easily found through the ‘following’ and ‘followers’ lists of other users, and their profile photos remain accessible to anyone, including users without a TikTok account. TikTok’s settings continue to expose them to risks – including unwanted contact, cyberbullying, or predatory behaviour.
Account settings are seen as key to ensure minors are safe online, since they determine who can view their content and who can contact them. Under the EU’s DSA, platforms accessible to minors must ensure a high level of privacy, safety, and security on their service. The Commission preliminarily considers that TikTok’s account settings fail to meet this standard, as they expose minors’ accounts and content too widely.
The Commission preliminarily considers that TikTok – in line with the Guidelines on the protection of minors – should adjust the default settings of minors’ ‘public’ accounts, so that their content is, by default, visible only to TikTok users whom the minor has accepted. While older minors may have the option to share their content with a broader audience on TikTok, the content should under no circumstances be accessible to a global audience outside the platform. Moreover, TikTok should refrain from recommending minors’ content to other TikTok users through the For You Feed.
The Commission stresses that preliminary findings do not prejudge the final outcome of the investigation.
TikTok can now examine the Commission’s documents and reply in writing to the preliminary findings. In parallel, the European Board for Digital Services will be consulted.
If the Commission’s views are ultimately confirmed, the Commission may issue a non-compliance decision, which can trigger a fine determined by the nature, gravity, recurrence, and duration of the infringement. The amount of the fine has to be proportionate and can not exceed 6 per cent of a provider’s global annual turnover.
