“The European Union launches an investigation into TikTok for the protection of minors: an essential initiative to guarantee the online safety of young people.”
Recently, the European Union took an important step by opening an investigation into the social network TikTok, owned by ByteDance, to assess whether it complies with the standards for the protection of minors established under the Digital Services Regulation. The move follows growing concerns about protecting young users online.
The European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, highlighted the importance of TikTok’s role in protecting minors online, being a very popular platform among children and adolescents in Europe. The Commission wants to ensure that TikTok takes the necessary measures to guarantee the physical and emotional well-being of young Europeans.
TikTok has already implemented features and settings aimed at protecting teenagers and preventing those under 13 from accessing the platform. However, the EU investigation aims to further assess TikTok’s efforts in protecting minors, advertising transparency, data access for researchers and combating harmful and addictive content.
The Digital Services Regulation, which came into force recently, imposes strict obligations on online platforms to protect users from illegal content. Companies that fail to comply with these obligations face significant fines of up to 6% of their annual global turnover, or even a ban on operating in Europe in the event of serious and repeated violations.
This European Union investigation into TikTok highlights the importance of protecting minors online and ensuring that digital platforms meet necessary security and transparency standards. It is essential that technology companies take their responsibilities seriously to ensure a safe online environment for all users, especially younger ones.