The European Commission has threatened to shut down a rewards service operated by TikTok in the next few days over child-safety concerns.
According to a press release published by the body, TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance has failed to provide the details of a risk assessment it conducted before launching the new TikTok Lite app in Europe after the EC gave it 24 hours on April 17 to do so.
That has led the body to conclude that TikTok’s conduct constituted a “prima facie infringement of the DSA” and that there were “risks of serious damage for the mental health of users” now at play.
As such, Brussels has launched a formal investigation into the platform over suspected breaches of the Digital Services Act (DSA), with senior officials, in particular, threatening to use it to shut down the new app’s “Task and Reward Program” in the coming days over concerns it could be harmful to children.
?We suspect #TikTokLite feature to be toxic & addictive, in particular for children.
Unless TikTok provides compelling proof of safety —which it failed to do until now—we stand ready to trigger #DSA interim measures including the #suspension of the TikTokLite "reward programme" pic.twitter.com/71neLMrkYy
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) April 22, 2024
“We suspect TikTok Lite could be as toxic and addictive as cigarettes ‘light’,” Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said.
“Unless TikTok provides compelling proof of its safety, which it has failed to do until now, we stand ready to trigger DSA interim measures including the suspension of TikTok Lite feature, which we suspect could generate addiction.
“We will spare no effort to protect our children,” he added.
Officials have now given TikTok until the end of business on April 23 to submit the missing documents relating to the risk assessment, and until May 3 to submit other relevant pieces of paperwork that have been requested by Brussels.
If TikTok fails to meet these deadlines, the body may choose to terminate the platform’s rewards programme in Europe. It may also decide to impose fines of up to 1 per cent of the company’s global revenues alongside “periodic penalties” of up to 5 per cent of its daily turnover worldwide.
Thus, the Chinese firm risks fines of up to 6 per cent of its global revenue should the EC conclude it has violated the DSA.
Brussels is pushing Chinese internet technology company ByteDance on whether it is respecting EU transparency and child-protection rules with its newly released app, TikTok Lite. https://t.co/rC9P6FcGIK
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) April 22, 2024
