Italy’s Antitrust Authority imposed a €10million fine on video-sharing social media giant TikTok for its failure to adequately safeguard minors from potentially harmful content.
In its statement on Thursday, the authority said, “The controls by the company on the content circulating on the platform are inadequate, particularly in relation to content that may threaten the safety of minors and vulnerable individuals.”
Furthermore, it highlighted, “this content is systematically re-proposed to users following their algorithmic profiling, stimulating ever-greater use of the social network.”
The fine targets three entities within the Chinese-owned Bytedance group, which owns TikTok: Irish TikTok Technology Limited, British TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited, and Italian TikTok Italy Srl.
This penalty follows the antitrust authority’s February directive to TikTok to remove videos depicting young people engaging in the ‘French scar’ challenge and initiated an investigation. The ‘French scar’ involves pinching the cheek to cause a lasting bruise on the cheekbone.
The authority stated on Thursday that the inquiry established TikTok’s accountability in disseminating content like the ‘French scar’ challenge that could jeopardise the psychological and physical well-being of users, particularly minors and vulnerable individuals.
Moreover, it accused the social media platform of not implementing sufficient measures to prevent the spread of such content, thereby failing to adhere to its own published guidelines.
Tik Tok disagrees with decision
TikTok responded today, saying it disagrees with the decision by the antitrust authority to fine it €10million. As outlined above, the fine is for allegedly failing to protect minors and other vulnerable users from potentially harmful content.
“We disagree with this decision,” said a spokesperson for the Chinese-owned company.
“The content linked to the so-called ‘French scar’ registered a daily average of just 100 searches per day in Italy before the Antitrust authority announced the start of its investigation last year,” the spokesperson added.
“We have long since reduced the visibility of such content to users under the age of 18, even excluding them from the ‘For You’ page’,” the spokesperson concluded.
Yesterday, Italy’s communications regulator Agcom imposed a fine of €1.35million on X for violating Italian regulations regarding gambling ads.