TikTok has been issued a fine by EU tech regulators for failing to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act following an investigation into its advertisements.

The Digital Services Act introduced a range of stringent rules and regulations for some of the largest platforms operating online and in the EU. The law required these bigger sites to publish a repository of their advertisements for researchers and the public to monitor and detect scams or fraudulent ads.

TikTok, the prolific social media giant owned by Chinese company ByteDance, was found to fail to comply with the DSA’s ad repository rule, and will now face a fine.

The EU Commission said that TikTok failed to provide the required information about the advertisements it hosts, the users these ads target, and the organisations that pay for these ads.

Under the DSA, big tech companies must prevent the proliferation of illicit and harmful content, including:

• Illegal content.
• Fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression, media freedom and pluralism, discrimination, consumer protection and children’s rights.
• Public security and electoral processes.
• Gender-based violence, public health, protection of minors, and mental and physical wellbeing.

Further, the DSA also requires companies to audit and provide transparency reports on their recommender systems and algorithms, as well as their advertisement models.

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The DSA works in conjunctions with other EU laws aiming to curb the powers of big tech companies, including the Digital Markets Act and, more generally, their data protection framework, GDPR.

The fine TikTok will face has yet to be determined or published, but if the findings are confirmed, then TikTok can face a fine of up to 6% its annual revenue. TikTok can also agree to reach a remedy with the EU Commission to avoid or lessen such a fine.

TikTok is not the first tech giant to be targeted under the DSA: X, formally known as Twitter, was found to be in breach of the law last year.

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