TikTok in a Tizzy: EU Regulators Serve a Stinging Hex!

Accio Transparency!

Honestly you'd think a platform used by millions (including I suspect a few closeted wizards trying out Muggle dances) would be a bit more…forthcoming. The European Commission bless their bureaucratic socks has charged TikTok with breaching EU online content rules. Apparently they're not playing nice with the Digital Services Act (DSA). It's all rather 'there will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class,' isn't it? Just cold hard regulatory demands.

The Case of the Missing Advertisement Repository

The crux of the matter? TikTok hasn't published an advertisement repository as mandated by the DSA. This repository is supposed to allow researchers and nosey parkers (like myself when I’m investigating the latest Floo Powder scams) to detect dodgy advertisements. It’s elementary my dear Watsons! How are we supposed to 'nitwit! blubber! oddment! tweak!' our way to a safer online experience if we can't see who's trying to sell us what with clearly manipulated information?

Information? More Like 'In dormation'!

According to the Commission TikTok isn't providing the necessary details about the content of its advertisements the target audience or even who's footing the bill! It's as if they're trying to hide something under an Invisibility Cloak. Honestly it’s all a bit ‘I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,’ isn’t it? Except instead of brewing potions they are brewing up misleading marketing tactics.

Virkkunen's Vigilance: A Call for Public Safeguarding

EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen (a Muggle I presume but a sharp one) rightly stated that transparency in online advertising is essential for safeguarding the public interest. 'Transparency in online advertising — who pays and how audiences are targeted — is essential to safeguarding the public interest,' she said. Hear hear! It’s about time someone took a firm stance against this sort of shenanigans. One can not simply allow information to be manipulated!

TikTok's Tick Tock: The Clock is Ticking

So far TikTok hasn't responded to requests for comment which is about as helpful as Lockhart in a duel. However they can review the Commission's documents and provide a written response. But the sword of Damocles hangs heavy. If found guilty ByteDance could face a fine of up to 6% of its global turnover. That's enough Galleons to fill Gringotts!

Mischief Managed? Not Quite!

Of course this isn't the only trouble brewing for TikTok. They are also facing a second DSA investigation into their handling of risks related to elections. It seems that the sorting hat has placed them squarely into 'detention' and they now have to work on proving their innocence. Let’s hope they learn their lesson or else their future might be less about viral dances and more about a slow painful decline.