Coimisiún na Meán’s Investigations Team has launched two formal investigations into the TikTok and LinkedIn platforms under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). The investigations will assess if the two platforms have contravened Articles 16(1), 16(2)(c) and Article 25 of the DSA.
In September 2024, Coimisiún na Meán’s Platform Supervision Division reviewed online providers’ compliance with Article 16 of the DSA. Article 16 sets out the ‘Notice and Action’ mechanisms which providers are required to have in place to allow people to report content that they suspect to be illegal.
As part of the review, concerns arose in relation to potential “dark patterns”, or deceptive interface designs, of the illegal content reporting mechanisms, specifically that the reporting mechanisms were liable to confuse or deceive people into believing that they were reporting content as illegal content, as opposed to content in violation of the provider’s terms of service. If this is correct, this might mean that the illegal content reporting mechanisms are not effective in preventing the dissemination of illegal content and the rights of people under the DSA might be undermined.
The investigations will look into whether the illegal content reporting mechanisms implemented by Tiktok and LinkedIn: are easy to access and user-friendly under Article 16(1); allow people to report suspected child sexual abuse material anonymously under Article 16(2)(c); and; confuse people when reporting content.
Coimisiún na Meán, as Ireland’s Digital Services Coordinator, is responsible for applying the DSA, and for supervising providers established in Ireland for their compliance with the DSA. Coimisiún na Meán also supervises compliance with the Online Safety Code and the EU Terrorist Content Online Regulation under its Online Safety Framework.
The investigation will be conducted under Part 8B of the Broadcasting Act 2009, as amended. If a provider is found to have violated the DSA, Coimisiún na Meán can apply an administrative financial sanction, including a fine of up to 6% of turnover. An alternative is that Coimisiún na Meán and the provider can enter into a binding Commitment Agreement, in which the provider agrees to take compliance measures acceptable to the Coimisiún.
