Image: © Nicola Forenza/Stock.adobe.com
The challenge involves pinching one’s cheeks long and hard enough to leave a lasting bruise on the cheekbone.
A top watchdog in Italy has fined TikTok €10m for allegedly failing to effectively monitor content that threatens the safety of children on the app, particularly relating to a trend called the “French scar challenge”.
In a statement published today (14 March), the competition authority known as Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato, or AGCM, claims that the content in question is “systematically re-proposed to users” because of their algorithmic profiling.
“The company has failed to implement appropriate mechanisms to monitor content published on the platform, particularly those that may threaten the safety of minors and vulnerable individuals,” the authority wrote.
“The investigation has allowed to ascertain the responsibility of TikTok in the dissemination of content – such as those related to the ‘French scar’ challenge – likely to threaten the psycho-physical safety of users, especially if minor and vulnerable.”
The French scar challenge involves pinching one’s cheeks long and hard enough to leave a lasting bruise on the cheekbone. TikTok had been asked by a separate regulator in Italy to remove the videos last month, and the company said it had “long ago restricted visibility” of the videos for those under 18.
As part of the latest fine, the Italian watchdog claims that TikTok has not taken adequate measures to prevent the dissemination of such content, not fully complying with the guidelines it has adopted and which it has made known to consumers by reassuring them that the platform is a ‘safe’ space.
“In fact, the guidelines are applied without adequately accounting for the specific vulnerability of adolescents, characterised by peculiar cognitive mechanisms from which derive, for instance, the difficulty in distinguishing reality from fiction and the tendency to emulate group behaviour,” the watchdog continued.
“Finally, the content – although potentially dangerous – is disseminated through a recommendation system based on algorithmic user profiling, which constantly selects which videos to target to each user in the ‘For You’ and ‘Followed’ sections, with the aim of increasing user interactions and time spent on the platform so to boost advertising revenue. This causes undue conditioning of users who are stimulated to increasingly use the platform.”
The news comes as the ByteDance-owned company faces the threat of a ban from one of its most important markets – the US.
‘Make your voices heard’
Just yesterday, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that calls for TikTok to separate its US assets from its parent company or face a ban in the country. It now needs to clear the US Senate to become law.
The bill comes as concerns grow in US political circles that the Chinese government may have access to user data from more than 170m US citizens who use TikTok because the app is Chinese-owned.
Our CEO Shou Chew's response to the TikTok ban bill: pic.twitter.com/7AnDYOLD96
— TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) March 13, 2024
Those in favour of the divestment have argued that Chinese law could compel companies such as TikTok to hand over data to the country’s government and pose a national security risk in the US. The threat of a ban has been on the table for some time, as TikTok confirmed last year that it was issued an ultimatum by US officials to adjust its ownership.
In response, TikTok CEO Shou Chew took to the app to urge users in the US to oppose the effective ban of the company (ruling out a split from its Chinese parent) and claimed the US move would provide an unfair advantage to rivals such as Meta Reels and YouTube Shorts.
“We believe we can overcome this together,” Chew said. “I encourage you to keep sharing your stories. Share them with your friends, share them with your family, share them with your senators. Protect your constitutional rights. Make your voices heard. Love you all.”
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