Last month, EU internal markets chief Thierry Breton said TikTok has a ‘particular obligation’ to protect children and teens from ‘violent content’ on its platform.
EU commissioner Thierry Breton has told TikTok that it must “spare no effort” in protecting users against disinformation and content deemed illegal by the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Following a call with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew today (6 November), Breton, who is responsible for the EU internal market, said that he and his services are now investigating whether changes made on TikTok recently are “enough” to ensure compliance with the DSA.
“We must spare no effort to protect our citizens against illegal content and disinformation,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Last month, in the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas conflict, the EU launched an investigation into X and warned both TikTok and Meta about the prevalence of disinformation on their platforms, as per the DSA.
We’ve seen changes on #TikTok recently.
My services and I are now investigating whether this is enough to ensure #compliance with the #DSA.
We must spare no effort to protect our citizens against illegal content and disinformation.
Constructive call with TikTok CEO @shouchew. pic.twitter.com/zvqukexRs9
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) November 6, 2023
In a separate post, Breton said that TikTok has a “particular obligation” to protect children and teenagers from “violent content” on its platform.
Soon after, TikTok announced its measures to address Breton’s concerns, including mobilising “significant resources and personnel” to protect the site from disinformation, hate speech and graphic content that emerged from the Israel-Hamas war.
“To date, we’ve removed over 500,000 videos and closed 8,000 livestreams in the impacted region for violating our guidelines,” TikTok wrote in a blogpost.
Breton gave TikTok a deadline of 25 October to provide information on its crisis response measures and ordered the company to provide details by 8 November on how it protects the integrity of elections and minors online on its platform.
Caroline Greer, public policy director at TikTok, described the meeting between Chew and Breton in a post on X today as “good”.
“Pleased that TikTok’s efforts to comply with the DSA and keep our community safe are being recognised,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has requested AliExpress today to provide more information on the measures it has taken to comply with obligations related to risk assessments and mitigation measures to protect consumers online.
The information is about the “dissemination of illegal products online” such as fake medicines.
“The Digital Services Act is not just about hate speech, disinformation and cyberbullying,” Breton said in a statement.
“It is also there to ensure removal of illegal or unsafe products sold in the EU via e-commerce platforms, including the growing number of fake and potentially life-threatening medicines and pharmaceuticals sold online.”
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