The European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, encouraged the TikTok social network, on Thursday 18 May, to undergo a blank audit before the entry into force of the rules with which very large online platforms will have to comply from 25 August next, under the Digital Services Act (DSA) (see EUROPE 13163/26).
“There is certainly a lot of work to be done and I hope that all of TikTok’s energy is used for compliance rather than anything else, but it is not for me to judge the use of TikTok’s time and resources. However, I know that 25 August will arrive very quickly”, Mr Breton told AFP.
On 25 April, the European Commission designated 19 companies as ‘very large digital platforms and online search engines’ (see EUROPE 13169/8). These, including 17 platforms and two search engines, meet a number of criteria, including having more than 45 million monthly active users in the EU.
Several companies, such as Twitter, have already agreed to undergo a blank audit, which will have no consequences if any infringements are found.
On 5 May, the European Commission launched a consultation on draft rules for the conduct of future independent audits under the DSA (see EUROPE 13176/33). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)