EU warns TikTok CEO: New digital rules must be followed
The European Union's digital policy commissioner warned TikTok's top executive on Thursday that the social media app must comply with strict new rules for online platforms that will come into force later this year.
EU Commissioner Thierry Breton had a video call with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.
TikTok, which is popular all over the world, is the overseas version of Douyin, a Chinese short video sharing app. Its parent company is China's ByteDance. Western governments are increasingly scrutinizing TikTok amid concerns about risks such as data privacy, cybersecurity and disinformation.
The pair discussed the company's compliance with the European Union's Digital Services Act. The bill, set to take effect on the world's largest online companies in September, is a sweeping set of rules requiring platforms to reduce harmful online content and reduce online risks.
According to a press release for the video conferencing, Breton said, "The younger the audience, the greater the responsibility. Behind seemingly amusing and innocuous features, it only takes a few seconds for users to be exposed to harmful, sometimes life-threatening This is unacceptable."
Breton added that TikTok has millions of young users in Europe, so TikTok has a "special responsibility" to ensure the safety of its content.
TikTok is hugely popular among young people, but its ownership by a Chinese company has raised concerns that Beijing could use it to harvest user data or push pro-China narratives or disinformation. TikTok and Douyin's Chinese parent company, Festival Beat, will move its headquarters to Singawith four other officials from the European Commission in Brussels earlier this month to discuss issues ranging from child safety to investigations into user data flowing into China. In the United States, at least 22 states, the military and Congress have banned the use of the TikTok app on government-issued devices. A spokesman for TikTok in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Caroline Greer, the firm's director of public policy and government relations in Brussels, said on Twitter that Breton's conversation with Zhou was a "good exchange" and that "the safety of our users is paramount." important". Breton said he was also concerned that TikTok was spying on journalists and transferring vast amounts of personal user data outside of Europe, in violation of the strict privacy rules of the 27-member European Union.
Breton said he had "made it clear" to Zhou that TikTok needed to "step up its efforts to comply" with EU rules on data protection, copyright and the Digital Services Act, which include, if repeated content that threatens people's lives or safety, Offenders will be fined huge sums and even banned by the EU.
"If an audit reveals that a company is not fully complying with these rules, we will not hesitate to impose comprehensive sanctions to protect our citizens," he said.
Greer said TikTok "welcomes the opportunity" to reaffirm its commitment to the Digital Services Act and outlined efforts to comply with EU privacy rules and tech companies' self-regulatory code of conduct on disinformationpore in 2020
