• The EU has accused Meta and TikTok of breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA).
• Both companies face potential fines for failing to grant researchers adequate access to public data.
• The Commission reports that Meta's platforms lack user-friendly mechanisms for reporting illegal content.
• Meta and TikTok dispute the findings, asserting that they comply with existing regulations.
• This preliminary ruling could lead to fines of up to 6% of the companies' annual global sales.

The European Union has formally accused Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram) and China's TikTok of violating the Digital Services Act (DSA), resulting in potential hefty fines. This marks the first instance where the EU has made such accusations against Meta regarding compliance with digital content regulations, specifically highlighting failures in transparency and data access for researchers, according to Le Monde and Reuters.

The European Commission, in its preliminary findings, stated that both Meta's platforms, Facebook and Instagram, along with TikTok, failed to provide adequate access to public data for researchers, a requirement critical for evaluating the platforms' societal impacts. Furthermore, the Commission noted that the current systems in place impose burdensome procedures on researchers, leading to unreliable data that hampers studies on potential exposure to harmful content by users, particularly minors, according to India Times and Reuters.

In addition to data access issues, Meta's platforms are criticized for not offering effective mechanisms for users to flag illegal content and to appeal moderation decisions. The Commission described the existing mechanisms as “burdensome” and possibly “deceptive,” making it difficult for users to report violations adequately, stated Le Monde and India Times.

Both Meta and TikTok have publicly challenged the Commission’s findings, with Meta asserting, “We disagree with any suggestion that we have breached the DSA,” and emphasizing their commitment to compliance through recent changes to their content reporting systems. TikTok echoed similar sentiments, claiming a record of granting data access to research teams while highlighting conflicts between the DSA and GDPR regulations, according to Reuters and India Times.

If the Commission's findings are confirmed through consultations, the companies could face fines of up to 6% of their annual global sales, signifying serious repercussions for any sustained non-compliance with EU regulations, according to Reuters.