The European Commission announced this Thursday the opening
of formal proceedings against Meta and TikTok, accusing them of violating the
provisions of the Digital Services Regulation (DSA), the new EU legislation
that regulates the operation of large technology platforms within the bloc.
According to Brussels, both companies have failed to
implement effective measures to control the spread of disinformation, hate
speech, and harmful content, especially those directed at minors. Furthermore,
an investigation is underway into whether the platforms guarantee the transparency
of their algorithms and allow users real control over the content they consume.
In the case of Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram,
the Commission questions the insufficient moderation of false or manipulated
content and the lack of effective mechanisms to prevent information
manipulation, particularly during electoral processes. TikTok, for its part, is
singled out for failing to adequately protect young users from addictive or
harmful content, as well as for failing to provide clear information about the
personalized advertising it uses on its platform.
European Commission Vice President and Competition
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager emphasized that the objective of these
investigations is "to ensure that large platforms play by the same rules
as everyone else" and that freedom of expression is not used as a pretext
to avoid responsibility for the social harm caused by digital content.
If the violations are confirmed, Meta and TikTok could face
multimillion-dollar fines, equivalent to up to 6% of their annual global
turnover, in addition to possible restrictions on their operations within
Europe.