The European Consumers Organization (BEUC) today filed a complaint with the European Commission and the European Network of Consumer Organizations against Tiktok.
TikTok has seen several privacy-related controversies since its launch in 2018. The Chinese social network has made several changes in recent months to ensure the privacy of minors, but consumer associations say that was not enough. As a result, they will now have to face the authorities.
BEUC claims that TikTok has violated consumer rights in the EU and failed to adequately protect children from certain content on the platform, such as hidden ads and inappropriate content. More precisely, their criticisms are summarized in four points.
EU concerns against TikTok
The first point is that there are several clauses in Tiktok's terms and conditions that are unclear, ambiguous, or favor TikTok to the detriment of its users. Copyrights are not fair, as users give the platform irrevocable use of all content they upload, being able to use, distribute or reproduce it without users receiving compensation for that.
The second point has to do with the functionality of TikTok that allows you to buy coins and top up the balance in TikTok to give virtual gifts to famous profiles. In these purchases, TikTok can change the price and exchange rate between coins and gifts, thus profiting from these transactions without users being able to do anything about it.
The third point is that TikTok fails to protect children and teens from hidden advertisements and potentially harmful content on the platform. For example, users are invited to participate in sponsored hashtags, indirectly promoting a brand. Most often it is the influencers who initiate these hashtags, for which they have already received money, because it is possible to make money on TikTok.
Finally, the platform's user data processing policy is vague, as users are not informed, especially since many of them are children and adolescents who do not know the terminology. As a result, it is not clear to users what personal data is collected, for what purposes and for what legal reasons.
Consumer organizations demand full investigation
For all these reasons, BEUC believes that TikTok would violate the GDPR, and calls on the EU to investigate TikTok's policies and practices and to ensure that the app complies with European consumer rights by properly reporting on its business model and data processing. . They also call for the elimination of unfair terms and for more information on its activity.