TikTok was hit by multiple complaints from EU consumer organizations on Feb. 16.
After being permanently banned in India, Chinese short-form video App TikTok (Jitterbug overseas) was hit with multiple complaints Tuesday (Feb. 16) by EU consumer groups over alleged violations of EU consumer law and failure to protect children from hidden ads and inappropriate content.
TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteHop, has grown rapidly worldwide in recent years, especially among teens. It has faced growing criticism over its privacy and security policies following a number of incidents.
The European consumer group BEUC cited several issues in its complaint, including TikTok’s terms of service.
“These terms are unclear, ambiguous and favor TikTok to the detriment of its users. Its copyright terms are similarly unfair, as they give TikTok the inalienable right to use, distribute and reproduce videos posted by users without compensation.” BEUC said.
In its complaint, the BEUC said TikTok’s virtual item policy also contains unfair terms and misleading practices, Reuters reported. The virtual item policy is where users can buy coins to provide virtual gifts for their favorite TikTok celebrity performances.
“TikTok has failed to protect children and teens from hidden ads and potentially harmful content on its platform,” The BEUC said.
The BEUC also said that TikTok’s handling of users’ personal data was misleading.
In addition to the BEUC’s complaint, consumer organizations in 15 countries have alerted their respective authorities about the hidden dangers posed by TikTok and urged them to take action.
“We are always open to hearing ideas on how we can improve and we have reached out to the BEUC as we welcome meetings to hear their concerns.” A TikTok spokesperson said.
The company said it has developed a summary of its privacy policy to make it easier for teens to understand its stance on privacy.
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a new notification in late January making permanent the ban announced last June against TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps. The Times of India reported at the Time that when the Indian government initially imposed the ban, it gave the 59 apps a chance to explain their position on compliance with privacy and security requirements.
“The government was not satisfied with the response/explanation of these companies. Hence, the ban on these 59 apps will be permanent.” Indian business newspaper Livemint said in late January, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump (Trump) was extremely concerned about the security risks posed by TikTok. The Trump Administration believed that TikTok would be used to collect data on Americans and pass it on to the Chinese Communist government.
Last August, Trump ordered TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteTok, to divest from TikTok within 90 days. A month later, Trump approved in principle a partnership agreement: TikTok would be allowed to continue operating in the United States, while ByteTok would create a new company called TikTok Global, in which U.S. companies Oracle and Walmart have stakes.
The two U.S. companies are still committed to the September 2020 deal, but the partnership has not yet been formalized.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the ranking Republican on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged Biden to fulfill his campaign promise to address the risks to U.S. users posed by TikTok.
Biden said at a campaign event in Minnesota last September that if elected president, he would have cyber experts “dig deep” to get the “best solutions” to address the risks associated with TikTok.
NPR reported last August that more than two dozen American teenagers, under their Parents‘ supervision, had launched a class-action lawsuit against TikTok, accusing it of stealing their personal information without their consent and “surreptitiously” transferring the data to servers in China.
The plaintiffs’ legal team says they have evidence that TikTok “secretly stole” (covert theft) information from U.S. users and “obfuscated the source code” to hide the path of the information theft.
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