TikTok has breached EU rules for failing to disclose sufficient information about advertising on the platform, the European Commission said in preliminary findings released Thursday.
TikTok now has the right to respond. If the findings are confirmed, the Commission can fine TikTok up to 6 percent of its annual global revenue.
The parties can also agree on remedies to the problems identified to avoid a fine.
TikTok is the second platform to receive a warning from the EU under the Digital Services Act (DSA), following preliminary findings against Elon Musk’s X released last summer.
TikTok does not “provide the necessary information about the content of the advertisements, the users targeted by the ads, and who paid for the advertisements,” and it also does not allow the public to search for ads, the Commission said.
The investigation into TikTok started in February 2024, and several aspects of the probe are outstanding: addictive design, minors’ protection and giving data access to researchers.
The Commission closed another DSA investigation into the ByteDance-owned platform launching a lite version of its app in France and Spain after TikTok agreed not to roll out reward features.
A third investigation was launched in December 2024 on TikTok’s involvement in the Romanian elections.
The preliminary DSA findings on X have yet to lead to either fines or remedies.
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