TikTok Breached DSA Advertising Rules EU Commission Says

The European Commission has issued preliminary findings stating that TikTok has breached the Digital Services Act (DSA) by failing to provide adequate transparency regarding advertising on its platform. Specifically, TikTok has not disclosed sufficient information about ad content, targeted users, or the entities financing the advertisements. The Commission also noted the platform’s lack of a public ad search tool, a requirement under the DSA to ensure accountability and transparency in online advertising.

TikTok, owned by ByteDance, now has the opportunity to respond to these findings. Should the violations be confirmed, the Commission is empowered to impose a fine of up to 6 percent of TikTok’s annual global revenue, which could amount to a substantial financial penalty. Alternatively, the parties may agree on specific remedies to address the identified shortcomings and avoid monetary sanctions.

This marks TikTok as the second major platform to receive such a warning under the DSA, following similar preliminary findings against Elon Musk’s X in 2024. The Commission’s actions reflect its increasing scrutiny of large online platforms to ensure compliance with the DSA’s transparency and accountability obligations.

The broader investigation into TikTok, initiated in February 2024, remains ongoing and covers additional issues such as the platform’s design features, protection of minors, and data access for researchers. Separately, the Commission has closed a related probe after TikTok agreed not to introduce reward features in its lite app version in France and Spain.