The European Commission has reached preliminary findings that TikTok may be breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA), concluding that the platform's settings for minors' accounts fail to guarantee the level of protection, privacy and safety the regulation requires.
According to the Commission, TikTok users under 18 can keep their accounts public, meaning any user, including people without a TikTok account, can view their content. Content posted by teenagers aged 16 and 17 can also be promoted to other TikTok users through the platform's "For You" feed.
The Commission said these practices risk increasing unwanted contact and could lead to cyberbullying and exploitation, while giving strangers access to details of children's personal lives. It also noted that content posted by minors can remain online indefinitely, with potential consequences that could follow them into adulthood.
Even where minors choose a private account, the Commission said, their profiles can easily be located through other users' follower and following lists, while profile photos remain visible to everyone, including users without an account. "Children's content must never be visible to strangers," Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said, warning that without changes, minors are exposed to predators, grooming and cyberbullying. He said teenagers aged 13 to 15 can easily switch their accounts from private to public, while the private accounts of 16- and 17-year-olds can be seen by anyone online. "We do not accept this," Regnier said.
Under its preliminary assessment, the Commission says TikTok should change the default settings for minors' public accounts so their content is visible only to users the child has approved. For older teenagers who may retain the option to share content more widely, the Commission stressed this "should under no circumstances be accessible to a global audience outside the platform," and said TikTok should not recommend minors' content to other users through the "For You" feature.
The Commission stressed that the preliminary findings do not prejudge the investigation's final outcome. TikTok can now examine the case file and respond in writing to the Commission's findings, while the European Board for Digital Services will also be consulted.
If the preliminary findings are confirmed, the Commission can issue a non-compliance decision, potentially accompanied by a fine of up to 6% of the company's global annual turnover, depending on the nature, gravity, recurrence and duration of the breach.
The Commission's investigation into TikTok began on 19 February 2024 and is based on a detailed analysis of the platform's operation, internal data and company documents, along with interviews with law enforcement officials and experts in child protection, child abuse and neuropsychology.
Sources: CNA, Reuters, Associated Press
