Irish social media regulators have opened formal investigations into the online safety mechanisms of TikTok and LinkedIn in relation to complaints about alleged child sexual abuse and other matters.
Two separate investigations into Chinese-owned TikTok and Microsoft-controlled LinkedIn were initiated on Tuesday by Coimisiún na Meán (CnaM), the State authority that enforces the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), a body of law introduced to boost online safety.
“At the core of the DSA is the right of people to report content that they suspect to be illegal, and the requirement on providers to have reporting mechanisms, that are easy to access and user-friendly, to report content considered to be illegal,” said John Evans, digital services commissioner with the regulator.
At issue is whether TikTok and LinkedIn breached such requirements, including the question of whether their platforms allowed people to report suspected child sexual abuse material anonymously, as required under the law.
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A further question is whether illegal content reporting mechanisms implemented by TikTok and LinkedIn are easy to access and user-friendly. Another is whether the platforms’ illegal content reporting mechanisms deceive people from reporting content as illegal.
Coimisiún na Meán can impose fines of up 6 per cent of platform revenues on companies found to be violating the DSA, so potential sanctions can run to billions of euro at the top of the scale.
It is also open to the regulator and a company to enter a binding commitment agreement, in which the social media platform agrees to take measures “that appear to An Coimisiún to address any issue relating to compliance”.
TikTok, owned by ByteDance of Beijing, said: “We are committed to keeping our platform safe and meeting our obligations under the DSA. We have received a notice of investigation today. We will review it in full and engage with CnaM as required.”
LinkedIn said: “We’re committed to keeping LinkedIn safe, trusted and professional, and have effective mechanisms for users to report content that may be illegal. We will continue to engage with regulators and adhere to the laws and regulations of the markets in which we operate.”
Ireland is lead European regulator for many Big Tech groups which have their EU headquarters in Dublin, among them US giants Microsoft, Apple, Google and Facebook owner Meta.
Coimisiún na Meán’s online safety role is separate to the Data Protection Commission (DPC) which enforces online data privacy under separate laws. The DPC imposed a €530 million fine on TikTok in May over the transfer of user data to China. TikTok has appealed that ruling.
The Coimisiún na Meán investigations into TikTok and LinkedIn follow a review initiated last year in which regulators examined compliance with DSA requirements to put “notice and action” mechanisms in place to allow people report suspected illegal content.
The regulator said concerns arose in relation to potential “dark patterns” in the illegal content reporting mechanisms, which it described as deceptive interface designs.
This raised questions as to whether the reporting mechanisms “were liable to confuse or deceive people” into believing that they were reporting content as illegal content, as opposed to content in violation of the terms and conditions set out by the platforms.
“If this is correct, this might mean that the illegal content reporting mechanisms are not effective in preventing the dissemination of illegal content and the rights of people under the DSA might be undermined,” Coimisiún na Meán said.
Mr Evans said social media providers were “obliged to not design, organise or operate their interfaces in a way which could deceive or manipulate people, or which materially distorts or impairs the ability of people to make informed decisions”.
After an initial review, Coimisiún na Meán sought information from several Irish-based social media platforms to ensure people can report content they suspect to be illegal through an “accessible and user-friendly” mechanism.
“This review has resulted in several actions which we can announced today, including the opening of an investigation into two online platforms – TikTok and LinkedIn,” Mr Evans said.
