TikTok Boss Escapes Musk Treatment as EU Issues Gentle Warnings

The head of TikTok, the Chinese social media giant facing US calls for a ban, was handed a series of polite compliance warnings by European Union commissioners. The commissioners reined in the undiplomatic language they’ve recently aimed at Twitter Inc.’s owner Elon Musk.
Although Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew was told he needs to make improvements in areas such as privacy to regain the trust of Europeans, the bloc’s top policymakers said Tuesday that they appreciate the company’s efforts to engage with regulators.
‍
TikTok has come under intense scrutiny in Europe over concerns that children's data may not be safe on the social media platform. This has led to separate probes by the UK and by the main EU data watchdog in Ireland. There are also concerns that EU user data could be accessed by "maintenance and AI engineers in China", which could lead to possible data protection violations.
‍
TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer has been meeting with European Union commissioners in an effort to charm them. This comes after reports of the app's aggressive data harvesting and surveillance in the United States. Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager is one of the commissioners Mayer has met with. In a statement, Vestager said she was concerned about the reports of TikTok's activities in the US.
‍
Both Vestager and Jourova discussed how TikTok is preparing to comply with upcoming content moderation rules, the Digital Services Act, which will go into effect this year. Non-compliance with the rules, which require companies to take down illegal content and produce risk assessments on harmful content, could result in fines as high as 6% of annual sales.Both Vestager and Jourova discussed how TikTok is preparing to comply with upcoming content moderation rules. The Digital Services Act will go into effect this year and requires companies to take down illegal content and produce risk assessments on harmful content. Non-compliance with the rules could result in fines as high as 6% of annual sales.
‍
Elon Musk has been warned by the European Union not to spread Russian propaganda on Twitter. The EU said that Musk's tweets could "amplify" messages from the Russian government that are "contrary to the interests of the EU." Musk has been told to "refrain from further such actions."
‍
The EU's response to TikTok has been more subdued than that of Twitter, which has been in turmoil since Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover. The space and electric car tycoon has been criticized for gutting content moderation teams and for urging staff to accept the firm's new "hard core" approach or quit.
In the United States, lawmakers voted last month to ban the use of TikTok on government devices, and some continue to debate the possibility of blacklisting the app nationwide. In the European Union, TikTok made some changes last year after getting an ultimatum from the EU Commission to bring its practices in line with EU advertising and consumer protection rules.