TikTok is ‘designed to addict children’, says activist as EU launches probe
The EU has launched an investigation into TikTok's alleged targeting of children on the video-sharing platform
A European activist has accused TikTok of being nothing more than a marketing platform that collects private data from children in order to make money from them.
As the video-sharing service faces the prospect of heavy European Union fines, the president of the Netherlands-based Take Back Your Privacy Foundation claimed TikTok is designed to be addictive to children.
“TikTok is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” said Friederike van der Jagt. “It is not really a social media platform, but instead a marketing platform that illegally collects private data from children in order to make money off them.
“TikTok is designed to make children watch for as long as possible, so that it can collect as much data as possible. We want TikTok to stop its unlawful practices and modify the app so that children can safely use TikTok.”
Mr Van der Jagt said TikTok took advantage of children. “They are especially vulnerable and generally do not appreciate how they are exposed when they use the app. Parents are also left in the dark by TikTok,” she said.
European officials announced on Monday an investigation into the alleged targeting of children on the app.
Chinese company ByteDance, which owns the platform, could face fines of as much as six per cent of its global turnover under the EU’s new content rules, if the probe finds that TikTok’s addictive design, screen time limits, privacy settings and age verification procedures contravene the bloc’s new digital rulebook, the Digital Services Act (DSA).
“Today we open an investigation into TikTok over a suspected breach of transparency and obligations to protect minors: addictive design and screen time limits, rabbit hole effects, age verification, default privacy settings,” EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton said on X, formerly Twitter.
“As a platform that reaches millions of children and teenagers, TikTok must fully comply with the DSA and has a particular role to play in the protection of minors online.”
Mr Breton already warned TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew last year that the platform had to speed up its efforts to comply with the DSA, which came into force last August and requires online platforms and search engines to take more responsibility in tackling illegal online content and risks to public security.
The investigation will focus on the design of TikTok’s system, including algorithmic systems that may stimulate behavioural addictions. It will also probe whether TikTok has put in place appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors.
The EU’s flagship legislation has already been used to investigate X over risk management, content moderation, dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers.
The EU also fined TikTok €345m last September for not building enough safeguards to protect the personal information of children using the platform. Regulators in the United States are also examining the app over possible harmful content and data privacy, with Mr Chew questioned by US lawmakers last March about its ties to Chinese authorities.
Last year, TikTok set an option for a 60-minute daily screen time limit for users aged under 18, although critics say this is easy to bypass, with 13- to 17-year-olds simply being asked to enter their own passcode to keep watching videos after an hour has passed.
TikTok, which has more than 150 million monthly users in Europe, has become a target of parents, policymakers and regulators who are concerned about the company’s data-collection practices and the platform’s effect on young people’s mental health.
No comments:
Post a Comment