Why is TikTok being fined 345 million Euros?

TikTok has been fined $368 million by European regulators for violating children's privacy laws. This is the first time the popular short video-sharing platform has faced consequences for breaching Europe’s strict data privacy laws.

The Irish Data Protection Commission, which oversees major tech companies based in Dublin, fined TikTok 345 million euros and reprimanded it for violating privacy laws in the second half of 2020.

According to the Commission’s investigation, teenage users’ sign-up process included “default settings” that made their accounts accessible to anyone. This meant anyone could view and comment on the user’s videos. In addition, these default settings presented a risk to children under 13 who were able to use the platform even though they didn’t meet the age requirement.

Photo: Tiktok

TikTok has been criticised by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission for a number of privacy issues. These include a “family pairing” feature that allows adults to send direct messages to users under the age of 16 or 17 without their permission. It has also been found that TikTok directs teenage users to more “privacy intrusive” options while they are signing up and posting videos.

TikTok objected to the decision in particular to the fine amount. The company claimed that the majority of the complaints made by the regulator concerned features and settings dating back to three years ago. According to TikTok, it made proactive changes; for example, it set all accounts for users aged under 16 to be private by default and disabled direct messaging for users aged 13- to 15 years, which was well before the investigation started in September 2021.