EU Threatens TikTok to Comply with DSA Before September 2023 or Leave Europe

European Commissioner Thierry Breton, is threatening TikTok for DAS. (photo: twitter @ThierryBreton)

JAKARTA - China's social media company, TikTok, could face a ban in the European Union if it does not step up efforts to comply with EU laws before September 2023. This was confirmed by high-ranking officials overseeing the EU internal market to TikTok CEO on Thursday, January 19.

"TikTok needs to align its business with the EU Digital Service Act (DSA) long before the September 1 deadline," European Commissioner Thierry Breton told Shou Zi▁hukum, in a video call between the two.

"We will not hesitate to impose full sanctions to protect our citizens if the audit does not show full compliance," Breton said.

TikTok replied that it is committed to DSA, and has also outlined its efforts to comply with other EU laws, such as GDPR data protection rules and code of practice on disinformation.

"The safety of our users is the most important thing", wordedfoli, director of public policy and TikTok government relations, on his Twitter account.

The short video app, which is owned by Chinese tech conglomerate ByteDance, has been working for the past three years to counter US concerns about whether its citizens' personal data is accessible and content being manipulated by the Chinese Communist Party or other entities under Beijing's influence.

Pressure on the company increased after its admission last month that some of its employees improperly accessed the TikTok user data of two journalists in the US to try to identify the source of information leaks to the media.

"Younger audiences have a greater responsibility. It is unacceptable that behind a feature that appears to be fun and harmless, it takes users seconds to access content that is harmful and sometimes even life threatening," said Breton.

"The DSA includes preventive sanctions including bans in the EU in case of repeated serious violations that threaten the life or safety of people," said Breton.

The DSA requires online platforms to do more to police the internet for illegal content and faces fines of up to 6% of annual global turnover for such violations.

TikTok's Chew visited Brussels last week to meet with regulators including the EU's antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, as it seeks to assure the bloc it will respect its increasingly stringent technology rules and commitment to privacy and child safety.