The EU has moved closer to fining TikTok, after it provisionally concluded that the social media platform has breached its rules for failing to provide an ad library that allows proper scrutiny of online advertising.
The announcement on Thursday comes more than a year after the European Commission launched an in-depth investigation into the group. If the provisional conclusions are confirmed, the Chinese-owned social media platform could be fined up to 6 per cent of its global turnover.
The EU’s Digital Services Act, which came into force last year, requires large online platforms to maintain a publicly searchable ad library to help detect scams, disinformation campaigns and co-ordinated manipulation — especially ahead of elections.