TikTok Warned It Must Improve Content Moderation To Comply With New EU Law

TikTok needs to do more to comply with the EU’s upcoming Digital Services Act (DSA), European commissioner Thierry Breton has said.

“Recent events have shown the impact TikTok has on democracies—and how important independent EU enforcement is,” he said. “Now is time to accelerate to be fully compliant.”

He added that the Chinese-owned company had agreed to carry out a “stress test” to help prepare, which had shown that more measures needed to be taken.

When the DSA comes into effect on August 25, companies will be expected to control hate speech, disinformation and other harmful and illegal material on their sites.

TikTok is one of 19 companies designated by the EU as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP), and thus subject to stricter provisions. They’ll be expected to monitor and manage risk, carry out external and independent audits, share data with the relevant authorities and adopt a code of conduct. Fines could amount to up to 6% of annual revenues.

The tests carried out by TikTok are believed to have covered TikTok’s child protection, recommender systems, content moderation, illegal content, data access, and transparency.

Breton acknowledged that TikTok is making “organizational improvements”, including changes to its content recommendation systems and increased transparency.

“TikTok is fully committed to implementing the DSA and enhancing transparency and accountability,” says Caroline Greer, TikTok’s Brussels-based public policy official.

“We welcome these opportunities to be open about our efforts and look forward to continuing to engage with the EU Commission.”

Breton has already had a similar meeting with Twitter to discuss stress testing, saying the company was taking the exercise “very seriously” but that its “work needed to continue”.

Amazon, meanwhile, is currently challenging its designation as a VLOP, saying it’s essentially a retailer, rather than a communication platform. The EU says it will defend its position in court.

Back in March, Breton pledged to crack down on companies that tried to dodge their responsibilities as VLOPs by minimizing their user numbers.

“I regret to say that there are a few online platforms that have not respected their obligations and have either failed to provide user numbers altogether or simply stated that they do not meet the designation thresholds,” he said.

“Let me be clear on this: When I say online platforms have to publish ‘user numbers,’ I mean numbers, not some generic statements. We will not tolerate delaying tactics when it comes to enforcing the DSA; we will take action and go after the companies which have not complied.”