Brussels, 24 July (LaPresse) – Accounts are too exposed and safeguards for underage users are insufficient. The European Commission has informed TikTok of the preliminary findings of an investigation, according to which accounts held by minors on the platform do not meet the safety standards set out in the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU regulation on digital services and online platforms. At the heart of the concerns are the accounts’ default settings. Currently, minors can choose to make their profile public, allowing anyone – even users not registered on TikTok – to view the content they post. Furthermore, videos shared by users aged between 16 and 17 may be recommended to others via the ‘For You’ feed, further increasing their visibility. According to the Commission, this exposure may encourage unwanted contact from strangers, predatory behaviour, incidents of cyberbullying and the misuse of content posted by minors. Brussels also emphasises that material shared online can remain accessible for years, with potentially lasting consequences even into adulthood. The European Commission highlights that these concerns also apply to private accounts. Although content is visible only to authorised users, minors’ profiles can still be identified via other users’ lists of followers and those they follow, whilst profile photos remain accessible to anyone, even without a TikTok account. According to the Commission, these settings continue to expose minors to risks that are not adequately mitigated.
TikTok under EU scrutiny: accounts for minors deemed unsafe
Brussels, 24 July (LaPresse) – Accounts are too exposed and safeguards for underage users are insufficient. The European Commission has informed TikTok of the preliminary findings of an investigation, according to which accounts held by minors on the platform do not meet the safety standards set out in the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU regulation on digital services and online platforms. At the heart of the concerns are the accounts’ default settings. Currently, minors can choose to make their profile public, allowing anyone – even users not registered on TikTok – to view the content they post. Furthermore, videos shared by users aged between 16 and 17 may be recommended to others via the ‘For You’ feed, further increasing their visibility. According to the Commission, this exposure may encourage unwanted contact from strangers, predatory behaviour, incidents of cyberbullying and the misuse of content posted by minors. Brussels also emphasises that material shared online can remain accessible for years, with potentially lasting consequences even into adulthood. The European Commission highlights that these concerns also apply to private accounts. Although content is visible only to authorised users, minors’ profiles can still be identified via other users’ lists of followers and those they follow, whilst profile photos remain accessible to anyone, even without a TikTok account. According to the Commission, these settings continue to expose minors to risks that are not adequately mitigated.
