Commission preliminarily finds TikTok and Meta in breach of their transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act

Today, the European Commission preliminarily found both TikTok and Meta in breach of their
obligation to grant researchers adequate access to public data under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The Commission also preliminarily found Meta, for both Instagram and Facebook, in breach of its obligations to provide users simple mechanisms to notify illegal content, as well as to allow them to effectively challenge content moderation decisions.

Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy:

Our democracies depend on trust. That means platforms must empower users, respect their rights, and open their systems to scrutiny. The DSA makes this a duty, not a choice. With today's actions, we have now issued preliminary findings on researchers' access to data to four platforms. We are making sure platforms are accountable for their services, as ensured by EU law, towards users and society.

Read the full press release

Background

The Commission's preliminary findings are part of the Commission's formal proceedings launched into Meta, and formal proceedings to investigate TikTok, under the DSA. The Commission continues its investigation into other potential breaches that are part of these ongoing proceedings. These formal proceedings under the DSA are distinct from ongoing investigations against Facebook, Instagram and TikTok concerning compliance with other relevant EU law.

See also Supervision of the designated very large online platforms and search engines under DSA

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