Irish Media Regulator Opens Probes into TikTok and LinkedIn Over Compliance Concerns
Ireland’s media regulator began investigations into TikTok and LinkedIn on Tuesday over concerns that their mechanisms for reporting illegal content are difficult to access or do not allow users to report child sexual abuse material anonymously.
The probes were opened as part of the regulator’s new role supervising the compliance of platforms established in Ireland with the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). They will assess suspected contraventions of parts of the law. Many large tech multinationals have their European headquarters in Ireland. If a provider is found in violation of the DSA, the Irish regulator can fine it up to 6% of its annual turnover.
TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, and LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft, were targeted following a review of online providers’ compliance with a requirement to establish mechanisms allowing users to report illegal content.
The Irish regulator’s digital services commissioner, John Evans, said, “In the case of these platforms, there is reason to suspect that their illegal content reporting mechanisms are not easy to access or user-friendly, do not allow people to report child sexual abuse material anonymously, as required by the DSA, and that the design of their interfaces may deter people from reporting content as illegal”.
Evans added that a number of other providers have made significant changes to their reporting mechanisms after engagement with the regulator. He said further information has been requested from some providers, and additional regulatory action is not ruled out.
The Irish regulator opened its first probe under the DSA last month, investigating social media platform X. The EU has increasingly used the DSA to crack down on Big Tech, requiring large platforms such as social media sites and search engines to implement robust measures to mitigate the spread of illegal and harmful content.
