The European Fee has opened a case in opposition to ByteDance, alleging that its TikTok Lite utility may be harmful to kids and was launched with out submitting the right paperwork.
TikTok Lite was first launched in 2019 in Asian check markets. The lighter model of the quick video app made its debut in France and Spain final month. In an announcement on Monday, the EC stated ByteDance did so with out complying with the EU Digital Companies Act (DSA).
“We suspect TikTok ‘Lite’ may very well be as poisonous and addictive as cigarettes ‘mild’,” stated Commissioner for Inner Market Thierry Breton, who’s in control of implementing the DSA.
In accordance with the Fee, ByteDance didn’t file a “threat evaluation report,” required by DSA of Very Giant On-line Platforms earlier than launching any new functionalities resembling TikTok Lite.
The bureaucrats in Brussels are notably involved concerning the utility’s “Job and Reward Program,” which lets customers accumulate factors for watching movies, following creators, inviting mates and so forth.
ByteDance has stated that TikTok Lite – together with the rewards program – just isn’t obtainable to minors within the first place, and that it’ll proceed discussions with the Fee on resolving the dispute.
The corporate was given till Tuesday to submit the chance evaluation report and till Could 3 to give you the opposite info requested by the EC. The bloc has threatened to effective the corporate as much as 1% of its complete annual earnings if it doesn’t comply.
That is the second EC probe into TikTok. The primary, launched in February, is investigating whether or not ByteDance breached the DSA in regard to the safety of minors, promoting transparency, “knowledge entry for researchers”, and “threat administration of addictive design and dangerous content material.”
On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden signed into legislation the $95 billion international assist invoice that included a proposal to pressure ByteDance to promote TikTok to an American proprietor inside 9 months. The corporate has stated it would problem the legislation in court docket as unconstitutional.
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