Today, the European Commission and the national consumer authorities (CPC Network) have announced to end their dialogue with the social media platform TikTok. TikTok has committed itself to align its practices with the EU rules on advertising and consumer protection such as the directives for Unfair commercial practices, Consumer rights and the Unfair contract terms. This dialogue began in February 2021, when The European Consumer Organization BEUC together with 18 European consumer organizations raised alarm about the problematic business practices by TikTok allegedly breaching EU consumer rules, such as failing to protect children from hidden advertising and inappropriate content.
These are the main commitments:
- Users can now report advertisements and offers that could potentially push or trick children into purchasing goods or services.
- Branded content now abides by a policy protecting users, which prohibits the promotion of inappropriate products and services, such as alcohol, ‘get rich quick’ schemes and cigarettes.
- Users are prompted to switch on a toggle when they publish content captioned with specific brand-related keywords and hashtags such as #ad or #sponsored .
- Paid advertisement in videos will be identified with a new label, which will be tested for effectiveness by a third party.
- Users are able to report undisclosed branded content, so that new rules for hashtags and labels are implemented.
Ursula Pachl, BEUC Deputy Director General, commented: "We welcome that TikTok has committed to improve the transparency of marketing on their platform, but the impact of such commitments on consumers remains highly uncertain. Despite over a year of dialogue with TikTok, the investigation is now closed, leaving significant concerns that we raised unaddressed. We are particularly worried that the profiling and targeting of children with personalized advertising will not be stopped by TikTok. This is in contradiction with the five principles on advertising towards children adopted by the data protection and consumer protection authorities last week. We now urge the authorities to closely monitor TikTok’s activities and to take national enforcement actions if commitments do not deliver. This must not be the end of the story. BEUC and our members will keep a close eye on the developments."
Quelle: EC & BEUC
More information and BEUC press release