The European Commission has threatened this Thursday the CEO of the social network TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, to ban the use of the platform in the European Union if it does not prevent minors from having access to “potentially fatal” videos and if it does not prevent User data is transferred to third countries such as China.
During a telematic meeting with Chew, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, told him that “with young audiences, greater responsibility is required” and that “it is not acceptable that behind apparently fun and harmless features, users take seconds in accessing harmful and sometimes even life-threatening content.
As explained by the commissioner’s department, Breton has asked Chew “very explicitly” to comply with European data protection regulations and with the new digital services law that large platforms must comply with, at the latest, from from September 1.
The Regulation Obliges Platforms to Delete Illegal Content
The norm obliges them to eliminate illegal content and improve transparency about the operation of the algorithms that determine what users see on the Internet. If they do not do so repeatedly, Brussels may apply a fine of 6% of their overall turnover or even prohibit them from staying in the single market.
“We will not hesitate to adopt the full scope of these sanctions to protect our citizens if audits do not show full compliance,” said Breton, who called on Chew to comply “well before” September 1.
Breton and Chew have met online, as they did not meet in person in Brussels during the meetings that the CEO of TikTok held with four other European commissioners, since the head of the Internal Market was on an official visit in Madrid.
As the Vice President of the European Commission for the Digital Age, Margrethe Vestager, that of Values and Transparency, Vera Jourová, the Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders and the Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johansson, had already done, Breton has expressed his “concern” due to the recent revelations by TikTok about the espionage of journalists in the United States and the transfer of user data to third countries, mainly China.
The Community Executive has also asked the owner of TikTok to cooperate with the investigation that the Irish Data Protection Commission began in 2021 on the transfer of its users’ data to China and on its way of processing the data of minors. age.
Brussels Extreme Siege on Big Technology
The meetings with Chew take place in a context in which Brussels has tightened the siege of the big technology companies. At the end of 2022, Breton himself met with the owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, in full controversy over the way in which he intends to regulate content on the social network and his way of understanding freedom of expression.
Jourová, for her part, threatened Musk with sanctions if he broke the digital services law.
In addition, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, has invited Musk to appear before the European Parliament, although the magnate has not yet responded to the proposal.
The pressure on TikTok, however, is also part of the United States’ fears of the social network, where Congress has prohibited legislators and their employees from installing the application on their official phones.
This article is originally published on rtve.es
