The European Union (EU) Commission has launched an official investigation into social media platform TikTok to determine whether it violates the rules of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
According to a statement from the EU Commission, it will be assessed whether TikTok violated the rules of the DSA on issues related to "child protection, transparent advertising, data access for researchers and the addictive design of the platform and the risks of harmful content".
The formal investigation follows a preliminary investigation following TikTok's report to the Commission in September 2023 and responses to information requests.
In the statement, it was pointed out that there is a suspicion that TikTok's age verification system used to prevent minors from accessing inappropriate content, as well as other measures implemented, are "not sufficient, appropriate and effective".
The investigation will also examine whether the platform took "adequate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy and security for minors.It will also examine the negative effects of the platform's addictive design, including algorithms, on the protection of children's rights, physical and mental health and radicalization.
Other aspects of the investigation will include the compliance of advertising on the social media platform with the DSA and "suspected shortcomings" in providing researchers with access to the platform's publicly available data.
The EU law, which came into force in August 2023, imposed strict rules on major digital platforms.
