European Commission Stated That Tiktok Does Not Protect the Privacy of Underage Users and Issued New Security Warnings

The European Commission stated that TikTok does not protect the privacy of underage users and issued new security warnings for the platform. The European Commission has accused popular social media platform TikTok of failing to protect the privacy of underage users. The institution stated that the platform's current policies do not meet the security standards set under the Digital Services Act.

According to the commission's preliminary findings, accounts of underage users are public by default. This allows the content to be visible to everyone on the platform. The European Commission emphasized that TikTok's algorithm recommends content from users between the ages of 16 and 17 in the "For You" stream.

The agency warned that this could expose young users to unwanted contact, cyberbullying or predatory behavior. The Digital Services Act requires platforms accessible to minors to ensure a high level of privacy and security. The Commission stated that TikTok's current settings do not meet this standard and make young people's accounts more visible than necessary.

While TikTok has the right to respond to these findings, the company could face a fine of up to six percent of its annual gross revenue for noncompliance. To fix this problem, the European Commission recommended TikTok change the account settings of underage users to be visible only to friends by default. Additionally, the agency recommended that young users' content be stopped from being recommended in the "For You" feed.

This is not the European Commission's first attempt at non-compliance with TikTok. Previously, the company was accused of using addictive design features such as infinite scrolling, autoplay and notifications.