Attacks on Tik Tok from both sides of the Atlantic. The European Commission has opened a formal case against TikTok which threatens to suspend some functions of the Tik Tok Lite app, launched in France and Spain. Lite's goal is to make people spend more time on the platform with a rewards system: Amazon vouchers, PayPal gift cards or currency to spend during live shows. The activities that bring points are following accounts, bringing friends, liking daily. You can earn up to 3,600 coins, 0.36 euros, for each hour of use.
According to Europe, there would be serious risks to the mental health of users, including minors, given that the app would lead to addiction. The proceeding related to the Digital Services Act is the second underway. Under the law, large online platforms must submit a risk assessment report, with measures to mitigate it, before launching any new functionality. «We suspect that the TikTok Lite version is toxic and addictive, particularly for children. Unless TikTok provides convincing evidence of safety, which it has so far failed to do, we are ready to activate provisional DSA measures, including the suspension of TikTokLite's “rewards program”, explained the EU commissioner. at the Thierry Breton Internal Market. As early as Thursday 25 April, Europe is threatening to suspend the ability to use functions of the app.
US law, however, would force the app's Chinese owner, Bytedance, to sell. With 360 votes in favor and only 58 against, the House of Representatives approved, in the package with aid to Israel and Ukraine, the banning of Tik Tok in the USA if it continues to be owned by China. The app is deemed a threat to national security. All measures must pass the Senate. If approved, the Chinese company will be able to choose whether to sell or lose 150 million users. The company called it “regrettable that it would use the cover of significant foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again pass a ban bill that would trample on the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses and It would shut down a platform that contributes $24 billion a year to the U.S. economy.”
Source: Vanity Fair
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