After the Chinese social network TikTok managed to resolve the situation in the US by transferring control of local assets to an American consortium, the platform has faced new challenges on the international stage. This time, regulators in the European Union and South Korea have raised objections, accusing the service of violating user rights and illegally collecting data.
Europe: Protecting Minors and the Threat of Huge Fines
European regulators have published preliminary findings of an investigation launched back in February 2024. According to the report, TikTok's content moderation policy violates the requirements of the EU Digital Services Act. The main problem identified by officials is the accessibility of personal accounts belonging to minor users.
In the opinion of European authorities, teenagers' profiles can be found and freely viewed by others. Furthermore, even users who do not have a TikTok registration can view photos of minors. Regulators argue that such openness increases the risks of unwanted contact, stalking, and psychological pressure on children by strangers.
European legislation strictly requires that social media accounts for minors be private by default and not accessible to random individuals. TikTok representatives are contesting these accusations. The company states that teenagers' profiles are protected by 50 privacy and security settings that have undergone independent audit. According to developers, children's accounts on the platform are not public by default.
Nevertheless, regulators have given the company an opportunity to propose solutions to eliminate the problems. If the proposed solutions do not satisfy the European Commission, TikTok faces a fine of up to 6% of the social network's annual global revenue. This is not the only complaint against the platform in the EU: authorities also point to the interface design, which, in their opinion, causes psychological addiction in users.
Precedents for large fines for IT giants in Europe already exist. In particular, the social network X is obliged to pay 120 million euros, the Chinese platform Temu — 200 million euros, and the marketplace AliExpress received a fine of 550 million euros for refusing to remove prohibited goods.
South Korea: Fine for Data Collection for Advertising
The situation in Asia is also not in TikTok's favor. Local regulators in South Korea have imposed a fine of $7 million on the company. The reason was the illegal collection of user information for the benefit of a third party — advertisers.
According to Korean officials, TikTok collected data on the behavior patterns of 9.45 million South Korean users. This information was transferred to third-party companies to create personalized advertising. Regulators pointed out that the platform failed to properly notify users of such activity, thereby violating their right to privacy.
