TikTok said it would take one month to address a number of complaints from EU consumer groups. EU consumers believe the short video app is suspected of breaching EU consumer law and serving hidden advertising and objectionable content to children.
With the popularity of digitization, TikTok has grown rapidly around the world. But some of the inappropriate content raised concerns about its privacy and security policies.
On Friday The European Commission has opened a formal dialogue with TikTok and EU consumer groups to review the company's business model and policies.
Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice, said that as the new coronavirus pandemic brings greater digitalisation, it also brings new risks, especially for vulnerable consumers. In his statement, he noted: "It is prohibited in the European Union influence targeting children and minors through hidden advertising such as in-video banners.”
TikTok said it would take action with the Irish Consumer Protection Commission and the Swedish Consumer Organization to remedy the situation. Both bodies are negotiating.
The company's statement reads: " We've taken a number of measures to protect our younger users, including making all accounts under 16 private by default and disabling them from direct messages. Additionally, users under the age of 18 cannot purchase, send or receive virtual gifts, and we have a strict policy against advertising that directly appeals to those who have not digitally consented.”
Sword of Damocles over TikTok
For reference, it all started back in February, when the European consumer organization BEUC filed a complaint with the European Commission against TikTok. At that time, national consumer organizations in European countries also appealed to the relevant authorities with a request to investigate the company's activities.
BEUC claimed that TikTok violated consumer rights in "on a massive scale».
"Within a few years, TikTok has become one of the most popular social media apps with millions of users across Europe. But TikTok is failing its users by massively violating their rights. We discovered a number of violations of consumer rights and therefore filed a complaint against TikTok.", — said Monique Goyens, CEO of BEUC.
As the organization noted, TikTok's terms of service are "are unclear, ambiguous and promote TikTok to the detriment of its users.” In addition, platform copyrights give TikTok the right to use, distribute and reproduce users' videos without compensation.
We still don't know how things will develop, but to be fair, the company has already banned users under 13 and deleted about 500 accounts.
