Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – On Thursday, the European Commission announced that TikTok’s advertising repository violates the EU’s regulations for online platforms, following preliminary findings from its Digital Services Act (DSA) investigation that began in February 2024.
Under the DSA, extremely large online platforms are required to establish an advertising repository, enabling researchers and civil society to identify fraudulent ads and hybrid threat campaigns.
Why does the EU say TikTok broke DSA rules?
The Commission’s investigation revealed that the video-sharing app TikTok fails to offer essential details regarding the content of advertisements, the users being targeted, and the sponsors of those ads.
Furthermore, TikTok’s repository “does not permit the public to conduct comprehensive searches for advertisements based on this information, thus restricting the tool’s utility,” the Commission stated in a statement.
What penalties could TikTok face under EU law?
TikTok can now respond by reviewing the documents and providing a written reply. If the Commission’s initial assessments are upheld, the company may face a fine of as much as 6% of its global annual revenue.
The DSA took effect for the largest online platforms at the end of 2023, and for all other platforms in February 2024. Since then, the EU executive has initiated several investigations.
Why is TikTok’s ad transparency under EU scrutiny?
The investigation conducted in February 2024 focused on TikTok, examining the detrimental impacts of its algorithmic systems, age verification processes, and its responsibility to maintain high privacy, safety, and security standards for minors, as well as data accessibility for researchers, an inquiry that remains ongoing.
How is TikTok linked to Romanian election interference?
In December, the Commission launched an investigation into the company over suspicions of violating the DSA by failing to sufficiently address risks related to the integrity of Romania’s election. This investigation remains ongoing. Additionally, none of the other inquiries, including those involving X, Meta, and AliExpress, have been concluded.
The presidential election in Romania on 24 November resulted in the first win for Georgescu, an independent candidate known for his nationalist and Eurosceptic views, who had been largely unknown before. However, the election was later annulled after the Constitutional Court received evidence from the country’s intelligence services indicating Russian interference in the voting, specifically via TikTok.
