While TikTok has until August 28 to comply with the new European regulations introduced by the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Chinese social network has just presented its measures to get in the nails… And stay on the European market.
With the Digital Services Act (DSA), the European Union introduced a new regulation on digital services. With this new set of provisions, the EU wants to regulate the content published on social networks and the products sold by merchant sites. On April 25, 2023, European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton unveiled the list of 19 sites and services in the line of sight of the DSA.
We find in particular Google (5 times with the Play Store, its search engine or Maps), but also Meta with Facebook and Instagram. Amazon, Twitter or rather X, Snapchat and Wikipedia are also in the crosshairs, as is TikTok. Before August 28, the deadline set by the EU, the sites concerned must respect the new obligations in terms of moderation of hateful content and fake news (under penalty of financial sanctions and banishment). Targeted advertising aimed at minors will also have to disappear, as will the collection of certain sensitive personal information such as sexual orientation or religious beliefs.
Also read: TikTok – Senate recommends 40 minute daily limit for teens
TikTok details its measures to comply with DSA requirements
However, in a new effort of transparency, TikTok has just presented on its official blog the various modifications made to comply with the obligations set by the DSA. First and in the coming weeks, European users will be able to report any content they believe is illegal (including advertisements).
Regarding moderation, TikTok will be less opaque. In other words, European users will be able get more information after deleting content or banning an account. Thus, users will be able to know if the decision was made by a bot or by a flesh-and-blood moderator, for example.
Then come the methods used for the recommendations. According to TikTok, it will soon be possible to discover content by disabling personalization. Thus, the For You and Live feeds will display videos from their country of residence and from around the world, and not according to their personal interests. Finally, the social network recalls the measures taken to strengthen the protection of young users, in particular with the end of personalized advertising for 13-17 year olds. Accounts for those under 16 have also been private by default recently. Some streams are also inaccessible to younger people.