TikTok given EU ultimatum over child safety concerns

[BEIJING] TikTok, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app, was given one month by European Union regulators and consumer protection watchdogs to address concerns over the safety of children's data on the platform.

"It is prohibited to target children and minors with disguised advertising such as banners in videos" in the EU, Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said a statement on Friday.

He said the EU started a formal dialog together with national consumer organisations led by those in Sweden and Ireland to "support TikTok in complying with EU rules to protect consumers."

ByteDance's TikTok is already facing scrutiny in the EU over how it handles children's personal information. The Irish data protection commission in December became the lead EU data protection authority for the company.

Friday's action follows complaints by European consumer campaign group BEUC earlier this year that the app is breaching users' rights "on a massive scale."

BLOOMBERG