Brussels –Restricting public access to data for researchers and preventing them from reporting illegal content in violation of the Digital Services Act (DSA). According to the European Commission, TikTok and Meta allegedly acted in this way. For this reason, the web operators now risk fines of up to 6 percent of their global turnover. The EU will now investigate further the preliminary notification of non-compliance with regulations, but, in fact, a warning of alleged wrongdoing comes from Brussels, and clarification is requested.
While the EU accuses TikTok of denying transparency on the platform by making access to public data complex, Meta, owner of the well-known social media sites Instagram and Facebook, is accused of violating its obligation to provide users with simple mechanisms to report illegal content. Specifically, neither platform currently provides an intuitive and easily accessible ‘Notify and Action’ mechanism to allow users to report content such as child pornography and terrorist messages. The mechanisms Meta currently applies “seem to impose several unnecessary steps and additional demands on users,” the EU executive complains.
Furthermore, regarding the ‘Notification and Action’ mechanisms, both Facebook and Instagram seem to use so-called ‘dark patterns’, or deceptive interface designs. “Such practices can be confusing and discouraging,” the Commission further complains, as it now awaits concrete answers from the companies.
Meta disagrees. “We disagree with statements suggesting that we have violated the DSA, and we continue to engage in dialogue with the European Commission on these matters. Within the European Union, we have introduced changes to content reporting options, appeal processes, and data access tools since the DSA came into effect. We are confident that these measures fully comply with the requirements of European law,” a Meta spokesperson said.
