By Benoit Van Overstraeten and Alessandro Parodi
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -U.S. tech giant Meta and Chinese-owned social media app TikTok breached their legal obligation to grant researchers adequate access to public data, the European Commission said in preliminary findings of an investigation released on Friday.
The European Union has cracked down on Big Tech using the Digital Services Act, which requires large platforms such as social media sites and search engines to have robust measures in place to mitigate the spread of illegal and harmful content.
A Meta spokesperson told Reuters the company disagreed with the suggestion that it breached the DSA. TikTok, meanwhile, said it was committed to transparency.
“Allowing researchers access to platforms’ data is an essential transparency obligation under the DSA, as it provides public scrutiny into the potential impact of platforms on our physical and mental health,” the Commission said in a statement.
The Commission added that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram did not appear to provide a user-friendly and easily accessible mechanism for flagging illegal content, such as child sexual abuse material and terrorist content.
“The Commission’s preliminary findings show that Facebook, Instagram and TikTok may have put in place burdensome procedures and tools for researchers to request access to public data”, the EU executive said.
Meta currently has mechanisms that impose several unnecessary steps and additional demands on users and use “deceptive interface designs”, it said.
“Such practices can be confusing and dissuading. Meta’s mechanisms to flag and remove illegal content may therefore be ineffective,” it said.
COMPANIES CAN REMEDY BREACHES, RISK LARGE FINES
The companies now have the possibility of examining the Commission’s findings and taking measures to remedy the breaches, it said, adding that the preliminary findings do not prejudge the final outcome of the investigation.
The Meta spokesperson said the company would continue to negotiate with the Commission.
“We have introduced changes to our content reporting options, appeals process, and data access tools since the DSA came into force and are confident that these solutions match what is required under the law in the EU,” they said.
A TikTok spokesperson said it was reviewing the findings.
“But requirements to ease data safeguards place the DSA and GDPR in direct tension,” spokesperson said, referring to the General Data Protection Regulation, the EU’s regulation on information privacy.
“If it is not possible to fully comply with both, we urge regulators to provide clarity on how these obligations should be reconciled,” the spokesperson added.
If the findings of the Commission are confirmed by relevant consultations, it may impose a fine on the companies of as much as 6% of their annual global sales.
(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Alessandro Parodi, additionnal reporting by Supantha Mukherjee; Editing by Joe Bavier)
