While its fate in the U.S. remains unclear, TikTok is also pushing back against EU regulations, as the company faces new fines for failing to police illegal content.
Late last week, EU regulators accused TikTok and Meta of implementing “burdensome procedures and tools for researchers to request access to public data,” in order to limit regulatory scrutiny.
As reported by The Financial Times:
“In May, the EU moved closer to fining TikTok, after it provisionally concluded that the platform had breached its rules for failing to provide an ad library that allowed proper scrutiny of online advertising.”
EU regulators are now pushing ahead with this investigation, which could result in significant fines for TikTok, and enforce new working arrangements for the app.
In response, TikTok has criticized the EU’s targeted application of its rules, noting that many platforms are not subject to the same rules, which is unfair to bigger players.
As explained by TikTok:
“To create a level-playing field and ensure consumers are protected wherever they go online, all online services not already subject to the DSA should also be required to take reasonable steps to assess and mitigate the risks of ‘persuasive design features’. This requirement should be proportionate to the specific risks posed by each online service, rather than ban certain design features as a whole.”
TikTok says that “inconsistent enforcement” poses a major challenge to effective consumer protection across the EU, and that EU authorities should consider the creation of a central enforcement authority, with “responsibility for setting the strategic direction for enforcement, and the power to investigate, oversee cases of alleged widespread infringement, and mediate cross-border enforcement outcomes.”
“A more coordinated enforcement strategy and better collaboration with other relevant EU and national authorities (e.g. DSA and GDPR authorities), would support businesses in their ongoing compliance efforts.”
So TikTok’s saying that it shouldn’t be fined based on inconsistent application of EU rules, and that all platforms operating in the region should be subject to the same scrutiny, based on public impact, as opposed to revenue thresholds.
Which makes some sense, though I doubt that this will save TikTok from another round of massive fines, if EU authorities feel that the app has failed in its transparency and enforcement obligations.
Europe’s ever-evolving digital regulations have placed broad-reaching requirements on all the major digital platforms, with TikTok already being fined millions for failing to comply with its various rules.
Back in May, TikTok was fined $US600 million by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) over its failure to protect user information, some of which was still being transferred to China for processing. EU authorities have implemented similarly large fines on Meta, and given the scale and impact of both companies, it makes sense that such fines should reflect such, in order to ensure compliance with these evolving laws.
But critics have suggested that these evolving data laws are just a digital services tax under another name, extracting billions from large social platforms in order to feed into local coffers, as opposed to that money being transferred overseas.
That’s at least part of the reason why Meta’s been looking to work with the Trump Administration on opposing such penalties, and why TikTok is also seeking reform, in line with a more equitable policy approach.
We’ll see if that gets any traction, with EU authorities also in the process of running a new inquiry into the impact of social media on well-being.
