tiktok2 articles
TikTok Coughs Up $400 Million to Settle US Child Privacy Claims
TikTok has agreed to pay $400 million to settle a U.S. lawsuit accusing the ByteDance-owned platform of violating child privacy laws, including knowingly allowing children under 13 to create accounts and unlawfully collecting their data. The Department of Justice described the settlement as one of the largest ever obtained under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This follows a €345 million GDPR fine levied against TikTok in Europe in 2023 over similar concerns about children's data.
EU Researchers Say Big Tech Is Running Out the Clock on Platform Transparency
European researchers studying disinformation on social media platforms are struggling to access data despite being legally entitled to it under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), with platforms like X and TikTok imposing technical barriers, narrow eligibility criteria, and burdensome security requirements. The issue is highlighted by the case of Romanian researcher Adriana Iamnitchi, whose DSA data request to TikTok was denied before the 2024 Romanian election, potentially preventing her from identifying coordinated networks that promoted far-right candidate Calin Georgescu — who went on to win the first round with 23% of the vote. While the EU has taken some enforcement action, including fining X €120 million, researchers remain cautious about whether recent regulatory changes will meaningfully improve access in practice.