Chinese-owned quick video-sharing app TikTok has been given a month to reply to a number of complaints from EU client teams that it allegedly violated the bloc’s client legal guidelines and likewise allegedly fail to shield kids from hidden promoting and inappropriate content material.
Owned by China’s ByteDance, TikTok has seen fast progress worldwide, significantly amongst youngsters. However a quantity of incidents have prompted issues about its privateness and security insurance policies.
The European Commission on Friday stated that it had launched a formal dialogue with TikTok and nationwide client teams to evaluate the corporate’s industrial practices and coverage.
European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders stated better digitalisation introduced on by the COVID-19 pandemic has created new dangers, specifically for weak shoppers.
“In the European Union, it is prohibited to target children and minors with disguised advertising such as banners in videos,” he stated in a assertion.
TikTok stated it will talk about with the the Irish Consumer Protection Commission and the Swedish Consumer Agency measures it lately launched. Both our bodies are main the talks.
“We have taken a number of steps to protect our younger users, including making all under-16 accounts private-by-default, and disabling their access to direct messaging,” the corporate stated in a assertion.
“Further, users under 18 cannot buy, send or receive virtual gifts, and we have strict policies prohibiting advertising directly appealing to those under the age of digital consent.”
© Thomson Reuters 2021
