TikTok’s security for children should not be compromised, EU warns

TikTok has drawn the ire of the European Union over its protections for children who use the video-sharing platform. The The European Commission has announced today’s findings under the Digital Services Act (DSA) present challenges that need to be addressed.

The Commission points out that TikTok should change the settings of the “public” accounts of children so that their content is visible to TikTok users with whom the teenager has chosen to share, and that this should not be recommended to users of the For You feed. Even accounts that are set to private can be easily accessed through the “following” list of other users, and their voicemails can be viewed by anyone. If TikTok fails to address these concerns, it could face a non-compliance ruling from the DSA that imposes fines of up to 6 percent of the company’s annual revenue worldwide.

“Young children deserve to be safe from the moment they go online. The Digital Services Act requires platforms to build protection for young children in the creation of their services, and holds them accountable when they fail to do so,” said EU director Henna Virkkunen in the announcement. “Higher security should not be optional; it should be permanent. This is our responsibility to the current and future generations of Europe’s children.”

The initial results follow the UK communications regulator Ofcom launching a joint investigation of child protection in TikTok last week, updates are expected in October. The EU says its separate investigation to see what was there “rabbit hole results“TikTok’s motivational system is still there.