AmersfoortThe Consumers’ Association and 17 other European consumer organizations have jointly filed a complaint against TikTok. According to the organizations, the video platform misleads its users, uses unclear and unfair terms and does not adequately protect children against advertisements and inappropriate content. They want regulators to intervene.
The organizations are not happy about the condition that gives TikTok the right to reuse, distribute and reproduce user videos without compensation. Sandra Molenaar, director of the Consumers’ Association: ‘TikTok cannot simply appropriate the rights to videos made. Those rights rest with the makers and it should remain that way.’
TikTok also reserves the right to change the exchange rate of TikTok coins from time to time. Those coins allow users to buy gifts for celebrities. By adjusting the exchange rate, TikTok can gain financial advantage. ‘Pure theft,’ says Molenaar.
Children insufficiently protected
Furthermore, TikTok does not adequately protect children and teens against hidden advertisements and potentially harmful content in videos. Popular influencers, for example, challenge their often young followers to create content around specific products. But it is usually not clear to the users who participate in the challenges that this has a commercial purpose and is actually intended for advertising.
‘TikTok takes far too little into account that its target group consists mainly of children,’ says Molenaar. “It shamelessly uses children as billboards and fails to shield videos that are unsuitable for this young target audience.”
Privacy
The platform also falls short when it comes to privacy. Molenaar: ‘TikTok is not clear about exactly what data it collects and how it processes it. And the terms are certainly not written in such a way that a child can understand them. While that is just so important for this young and therefore vulnerable target group.’
Intervene
Molenaar: ‘TikTok is a popular platform on which children in particular can express their creativity. But they must be able to do so in a carefree manner, without their rights being violated. The supervisors have to take care of that.’
Complaint
The consumer organizations submitted their complaints via the European umbrella organization BEUC to the European Commission and the European network of regulators CPC. This includes the Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets. In addition to the Consumers’ Association, organizations from Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, France, Greece, Italy (2), Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (2), the Czech Republic, Sweden and Switzerland took part in the action.
