TikTok Agrees to Boost EU Consumers’ Rights, Averts Possible Sanctions

Chinese-owned brief video-sharing app TikTok has agreed to spice up European Union customers’ rights, EU regulators mentioned on Tuesday, averting attainable sanctions in a case sparked by a number of complaints from shopper teams within the bloc.

The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) in its 2021 criticism mentioned TikTok, which has seen speedy development worldwide, significantly amongst youngsters, failed to guard youngsters from hidden promoting and inappropriate content material.

The firm subsequently held discussions with the European Commission and the nationwide community of shopper safety authorities in an try and resolve the issues and now has agreed to a lot of adjustments, the EU govt mentioned.

These embrace the introduction of a further choice permitting customers to simply report advertisements that would probably encourage youngsters to purchase items or providers or persuade their mother and father or others to purchase them for them.

Branded content material is not going to be allowed to advertise inappropriate services and products. Among different commitments, the corporate will make clear find out how to get rewards from its platform, and paid commercials in movies will likely be extra clearly labelled.

“All social media platforms are required to play by the rules and make sure that consumers can easily identify commercial content, including when promoted by influencers,” fee justice chief Didier Reynders said in an announcement.

TikTok mentioned it will proceed to enhance its options.

BEUC, nevertheless, mentioned TikTok’s supply fell brief in some areas.

“The impact of such commitments on consumers remains highly uncertain. Despite over a year of dialogue with TikTok, the investigation is now closed, leaving significant concerns that we raised unaddressed,” BEUC Deputy Director General Ursula Pachl mentioned in an announcement.

© Thomson Reuters 2022