European Commission Accuses TikTok of Failing to Protect Children and Minors, Threatens Legal Action

Brussels, 24 July (KUNA) -- The European Commission on Friday accused the TikTok platform of failing to provide adequate protection for children and of not ensuring that the account settings for minors on the platform comply with the privacy, safety, and security standards mandated by the European Digital Services Act (DSA), pledging to take legal action in this regard. In a statement on the preliminary findings of its investigation, the Commission said that “minors can make their accounts public, allowing any user, including those without a TikTok account, to view their content, and may also enable the platform’s recommendation system to promote content posted by older minors.” It warned that “this exposure may subject children to unwanted contact, cyberbullying, and exploitative behaviors, while also giving strangers a window into their lives,” noting that posted content may remain accessible online for extended periods, with potential consequences extending into adulthood. The European Commission pointed out that “minors’ accounts can be easily found even when set to private, through followers lists and accounts followed by other users, while profile pictures remain visible to everyone, including non-users of the platform.” It affirmed that the DSA requires platforms accessible to minors to ensure a high level of privacy, safety, and security, considering TikTok’s settings “to fall short of this standard” because they expose their accounts and content to an excessively wide audience. The statement quoted Commissioner for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, as saying that “minors deserve a safe experience from the moment they enter the online world,” emphasizing that the DSA obliges platforms to integrate child protection measures into the design of their services and holds them accountable if they fail to do so. The Commission concluded that TikTok must adjust the default settings for public accounts of this category so that their content is visible only to platform users whom the minor has agreed to accept. (End) A.R.N. / M.N.F.