The European Union (EU) on the 24th, local time, reached a preliminary conclusion that Meta and TikTok failed to comply with obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), including ensuring data access rights.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, announced preliminary DSA investigation findings that day on Meta's Facebook and Instagram and the Chinese video-sharing platform TikTok. The commission said, "Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok may have complicated procedures for researchers to access (platform) public data."
It added, "By using public data, researchers can examine things like the impact of content that glorifies violence on children," explaining that guaranteeing data access rights for platforms is a mandatory transparency obligation under the DSA. The commission also said Meta failed to properly implement DSA rules for its illegal content reporting system.
The DSA is legislation introduced to curb the spread of online disinformation and harmful or illegal goods or content and to protect minors. Meta and TikTok, having been notified of the preliminary findings, must present objections or take measures to address the commission's concerns. If the commission judges that corrective actions are insufficient, it will finalize the preliminary findings. It can impose a penalty surcharge of up to 6% of the worldwide annual revenue of the corporations surveyed.