The Chinese owned shirt video sharing app TikTok is alleged to have violated the consumer laws of the European Union and has also allegedly failed to protect children from hidden advertising and inappropriate content, according to complaints filed by EU consumer groups with the regulator of the bloc. The EU regulator now has given the app a month to respond to those allegations.
There has been increasing and immense popularity of the app that is owned by the ByteDance of China, throughout the world and particularly among teenagers and the younger generation of online users. However there have also been concerns raised about its privacy and safety policies prompted by a number of incidents related to the app.
A formal dialogue with TikTok and national consumer groups have been launched by it for conducting a review of the commercial practices and policy of the company that operates TikTok, said the European Commission on Friday.
New risks have been created online, in particular for the vulnerable groups of consumers, because of the greater digitalisation brought on by the Cpvid-19 pandemic, said the European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders.
"In the European Union, it is prohibited to target children and minors with disguised advertising such as banners in videos," he said in a statement.
TikTok has said that it has recently implemented a number of measures in its app and the company would be soon discussing those issues and other concerns related to the app with the Irish Consumer Protection Commission and the Swedish Consumer Agency.
Both bodies are leading the talks.
"We have taken a number of steps to protect our younger users, including making all under-16 accounts private-by-default, and disabling their access to direct messaging," the company said in a statement.
"Further, users under 18 cannot buy, send or receive virtual gifts, and we have strict policies prohibiting advertising directly appealing to those under the age of digital consent.”
(Source;www.moneycontrol.com)
There has been increasing and immense popularity of the app that is owned by the ByteDance of China, throughout the world and particularly among teenagers and the younger generation of online users. However there have also been concerns raised about its privacy and safety policies prompted by a number of incidents related to the app.
A formal dialogue with TikTok and national consumer groups have been launched by it for conducting a review of the commercial practices and policy of the company that operates TikTok, said the European Commission on Friday.
New risks have been created online, in particular for the vulnerable groups of consumers, because of the greater digitalisation brought on by the Cpvid-19 pandemic, said the European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders.
"In the European Union, it is prohibited to target children and minors with disguised advertising such as banners in videos," he said in a statement.
TikTok has said that it has recently implemented a number of measures in its app and the company would be soon discussing those issues and other concerns related to the app with the Irish Consumer Protection Commission and the Swedish Consumer Agency.
Both bodies are leading the talks.
"We have taken a number of steps to protect our younger users, including making all under-16 accounts private-by-default, and disabling their access to direct messaging," the company said in a statement.
"Further, users under 18 cannot buy, send or receive virtual gifts, and we have strict policies prohibiting advertising directly appealing to those under the age of digital consent.”
(Source;www.moneycontrol.com)
