BRUSSELS, Belgium: European Commissioner Thierry Breton has told Shou Zi Chew, CEO of Chinese social media giant TikTok, that his social media company could be banned from being used in the EU if it does not comply with the Digital Services Act by September.
“We will not hesitate to adopt the full extent of sanctions to protect our citizens if audits do not show full compliance,” Breton said in a video call with Chew.
“With younger audiences comes greater responsibility. It is not acceptable that behind seemingly fun and harmless features, users take seconds to access harmful and sometimes even life-threatening content,” added Breton, as quoted by Reueters.
In response, TikTok claimed that it adhered to the Digital Services Act and will make efforts to comply with other EU legislation, such as data protection rules and a code of conduct on disinformation.
In a tweet, Caroline Greer, TikTok’s director of public policy and government relations, said, “The safety of our users is of the utmost importance.”
For the past three years, the video app, owned by Chinese tech conglomerate ByteDance, has countered US claims that personal data can be accessed and manipulated by China’s Communist Party or any other entity influenced by Beijing.
After it admitted in December 2022 that some of its employees obtained access to TikTok user data from two journalists to try to identify the source of information leaks to the media, pressure on the company has increased.
The Digital Services Act requires online platforms to more proactively review illegal content, and failure could result in fines of up to 6 percent of their annual global turnover.
Last week, Chew visited Brussels to meet with regulators, including EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, to reassure the bloc that they will respect its increasingly strict technology rules and commitments on privacy and child safety.