The European Commission said this Monday that it is investigating whether the changes made by the Chinese digital platform TikTok are “sufficient” to comply with the new European digital services law, the day it asked AliExpress for more information.
On the day he met via video conference with TikTok executive president Shu Chu, European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton noted in a statement issued to the press, “changes on the platform have occurred in recent months with the launch of new features with the aim of protecting users and investments, investments in content moderation, as well as trust and safety.”
“My services and I are now assessing whether this is sufficient to ensure compliance with the Digital Services Act because now, more than ever, we must make every effort to protect our citizens – especially children and teenagers – from illegal content and disinformation,” he said. He. emphasized in a note released by his office.
Given the entry into force in the European Union (EU) at the end of August this year of the world’s first rules for “online platforms”, the European Commission this Monday also issued an official request for information to AliExpress under the Digital Services Act.
“The Commission requests AliExpress to provide further information on the measures it has taken to comply with obligations related to risk assessment and mitigation measures to protect online consumers, in particular with regard to the distribution of illegal products online, such as counterfeit medicines,” announced community leader.
Chinese e-commerce platform AliExpress now has until November 27 to respond to the European Commission, and based on an assessment of the responses, the agency will consider next steps.
There is the possibility of formally opening the process, as well as imposing penalties for incorrect, incomplete or misleading information.
Companies that do not comply with this new legislation may face fines proportional to their size: companies with fewer than 45 million active users are subject to fines depending on the national legislation of member states, and larger companies higher. From this level, up to 6% of its global turnover could be subject to sanctions.
Since late August last year and after an adjustment period, the EU has become the first jurisdiction in the world to have rules for digital platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, which will now be required to remove illegal content.
These obligations stem from the entry into force this Monday of the EU Digital Services Act, under which the Commission has identified 19 very large online platforms with 45 million monthly active users that will have to comply with the new rules, including AliExpress, Amazon, Apple AppStore, Booking.com, Facebook, Google Play, Google Maps, Google Shopping, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube and Zalando.
They add two very large search engines such as Bing and the Google search tool.
The new Digital Services Act was created to protect the fundamental rights of online users and is an unprecedented law in the digital space that holds platforms accountable for illegal and harmful content, namely misinformation.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.