The European Commission completes the suspension of the new “app”. Tick tock through which it pays its users to view and interact with content published on the platform and currently available in Europe It is only available in Spain and France; A measure that Brussels is taking considering that the Chinese company does not comply with the new European rules on digital services.
“We suspect it is the TikTok Lite service toxic and addictive, especially to children“said Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton in a short message distributed on social networks to announce the impending suspension of the program.
The French Liberal has warned that the company could still present “convincing proof of safety” the new “app” to avoid a last-minute suspension, but he made it clear he doesn’t trust it because “they haven’t done it yet.”
“We are ready to activate the interim measures of the Digital Services Actincluding the suspension of the bounty program,” emphasized the Commissioner in charge of telecommunications.
The announcement also coincides with the opening of an event by the community board Sanctions against TikTok for not responding within the deadline to the request for information sent last week by the European Commission, which gave it 24 hours to provide the risk assessment that all major platforms are required to do before launching a new program on the market community.
Community sources point out that this is the first dossier of its kind launched since the new EU rules for the digital sector came into force and explain why this is because it is For the first time, a major platform does not respond in any way to the request for information.
How does TikTok Lite work?
Specifically, Brussels is investigating whether the Chinese company is complying with its requirements Transparency and child protection obligations in the development of the new application “TikTok Lite”, which was initially aimed only at adults.
This is a program that allows users Earn points by discovering new content or completing certain actions and that they can later redeem gift vouchers that can be redeemed on other shopping platforms such as Amazon or via PayPal, as well as to reward creators on TikTok.
In addition, the company has by next April 26th to send more detailed information on the impact of the new program on the protection of minors and on the mental health of users, particularly with regard to the risk of promoting addictive behavior.
The municipal services also ask for clarifications on the measures taken before the launch of the new “app” in Europe “Mitigating these kinds of systemic risks.”
The Commission, the will analyze the information collected in detail before making a decisionRemember that the formal request for information is a step in the investigation and does not anticipate steps that may be taken later.
However, the community institution adds that it has the authority to do so Impose fines on companies that do not cooperate with the investigation if they do not submit the required information within the set deadlines or if they submit false or falsified documents.
Last February, the municipal council launched a formal investigation to determine whether the new European law had been violated Topics such as child protection, transparency, access to data and measures against addictive or harmful content.