TikTok, the popular video application that is a hit among younger audiences, has not been able to escape the attention of the European Commission, which has decided to take legal action against the application. This European Union body has expressed concern about the lack of mechanisms to protect minors within the application itself, as well as the limited transparency it presents with regards to data that should be accessible according to European legislation.
It’s not something too surprising, since TikTok has been under the EU’s spotlight for quite some time, and in fact, it has received more than one warning lately for always being on the edge of the regulation and deliberately exceeding it on certain occasions. Now, with the European Commission intervening directly, the popular app will have to take more seriously the demands that are put on the table.
Protection for minors on TikTok
It is well known that, currently, TikTok is the social network with the youngest audience. In fact, it is also known that many users use this application despite being below the minimum age of use. That is particularly one of the major complaints of the European Commission, which regrets the lack of age verification tools in an application whose content can have very negative effects on developing minds early.
Similarly, the European Commission also speaks of the risks of highly addictive design that the application has, which is also dangerous for more susceptible audiences. It also emphasizes the lack of control over content that can be harmful to physical or mental health, dangerous due to discriminatory speeches, or for radicalizing its audience.
The lack of transparency is also mentioned as another problem to consider, since there is a lot of information that is not as accessible as European codes require, in addition to the fact that the standards of security, privacy, and protection for minors are not met either.
Europe as a social shield
Since TikTok has not corrected these issues before the intervention of the European Commission, if the investigation indicates that TikTok was not fulfilling its responsibilities, it could be fined heavily, something that has also happened in other cases with applications like Facebook. In this way, the European Union is shown as a guarantee agent against digital abuses. This is something that can also be seen in details such as the fact that they are already preparing strict regulation to set limits on Artificial Intelligence.
