The European Commission announced Friday that TikTok has breached the bloc’s Digital Services Act by failing to adequately protect the privacy rights of underage users, allowing adult strangers to easily view and interact with accounts belonging to minors.
European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier warned that the platform’s default privacy settings leave children vulnerable to cyberbullying, unsolicited contact, and online grooming. Regnier highlighted that users aged 13 to 15 could effortlessly switch their profiles from private to public, while content from minors aged 16 and 17 remained broadly visible across the internet, stating that “children’s content must never be visible to strangers.”
The preliminary finding gives ByteDance-owned TikTok an opportunity to defend its practices and submit remedial proposals. Should Brussels remain unsatisfied with the social media company’s response, regulators could issue a formal non-compliance decision accompanied by penalties of up to 6% of TikTok’s global annual revenue. In response, TikTok stated it shares the goal of protecting minors online and will review the Commission’s findings while continuing formal discussions with regulators.
