The clock is ticking for the TikTok social network. This Thursday, July 20, the Chinese company ByteDance, parent company of the short video sharing application, announced the launch of new “transparency tools” to make its data more accessible.
An outpouring of generosity that is not really one: like 19 other online platforms, TikTok must now comply with the new European Union regulation on digital services (DSA), in force since November 2022. These are stricter rules on the moderation of sensitive content that ByteDance and TikTok will have to comply with by the end of August, otherwise they will lose their 125 million European users.
Open Pandora’s box to researchers
Concretely, the new “transparency tools” announced by ByteDance are not aimed at Internet users, but they should eventually allow them to better understand the workings of TikTok. The first concerns researchers and scientists wishing to study more closely the functioning of the social network. ByteDance thus announces that it is implementing a new technical interface dedicated to “facilitating independent research on the platform and bringing transparency to TikTok content”, according to the company’s press release.
More or less restricted access to part of its data that ByteDance has already been testing since the beginning of the year in the United States, where TikTok is also facing threats of a ban. The platform would thus have received “more than 60 requests from American university researchers, on subjects related to consumer trends, misinformation, mental health”, indicates the company … Without specifying if it accepted these requests, notes AFP.
Access to paid advertising and partnerships
The second tool is aimed at the main detractors of TikTok: the political class and European regulators. ByteDance thus announces to open its “commercial content library”, that is to say the list of advertisements and commercial content that are presented on the platform. This includes paid partnerships with influencers, which are sometimes opaque for young TikTok users.
This is one of the nerve centers of tension between the European Union and the social network. The day before these announcements, the European commissioner in charge of digital regulation, Thierry Breton, pointed out that among the 125 million users in the EU, “most of them are teenagers”. The new regulation also plans to prohibit the use of sensitive data for targeted advertising.
The regulator intervened after a first compliance test of TikTok against the DSA conducted Monday at the European headquarters of ByteDance, in Dublin. If he underlined the efforts and resources devoted to this approach, Thierry Breton nevertheless asked the company to “accelerate” the pace.
By August 25, the DSA expects TikTok to conduct a risk analysis of illegal content, invasion of privacy, freedom of expression and public safety. Similarly, ByteDance will have to put more resources into content moderation to mitigate these risks, in addition to giving EU experts access to its algorithms.
TikTok suspended in the EU
If the checks provided for by the DSA reveal that TikTok does not comply with these obligations, the social network risks suspension in the 27 countries of the European Union. A serious threat to ByteDance, which is already facing pressure from several European governments, France in the lead. After one November 2022 investigation revealing that TikTok was sharing European user data with its Chinese employeesseveral countries, including France, have announced that they will ban the application for their parliamentarians or members of their governments.
More recently, a Senate inquiry report published on July 6 called for “suspending TikTok in France” if the social network does not comply with European rules. In response, the Minister Delegate for Digital Jean-Noël Barrot clarified in mid-July that TikTok’s regulatory efforts will be controlled. The company will have to provide by the end of the year “an inventory” of its compliance. Conclusions that the Minister will present to the Senate during this same period.