The European Commission found that Meta and TikTok violated transparency rules under the DSA

An investigation by EU regulators found that TikTok and Meta were violating the bloc’s rules on illegal or harmful online content.

The European Commission (EC) said on Friday that preliminary findings show that the two companies are not complying with Digital Services Act (DSA) rules that require them to give researchers adequate access to public data.

The committee described Meta and TikTok’s procedures and tools for requesting access to public data as “cumbersome,” saying that researchers are often left with partial or unreliable data, which impacts “their ability to conduct research, such as whether users, including minors, are exposed to illegal or harmful content.”

The Commission also said that the meta platforms – Instagram and Facebook – had violated their obligations to provide EU residents with simple ways to report illegal content. The commission said both platforms impose several unnecessary steps before users can report content, and accused Facebook and Instagram of using so-called “dark patterns” – design tricks that manipulate users into taking certain actions.

“Such practices can be confusing and discouraging. Meta’s mechanisms for identifying and removing illegal content may therefore be ineffective,” the commission wrote in a statement.

The European Commission also said that the moderated appeal mechanisms in both platforms do not allow EU residents to fully explain or provide evidence to support their appeals. “This makes it difficult for EU users to provide further explanation as to why they disagree with a meta content decision, limiting the effectiveness of the appeal mechanism,” the Commission wrote.

TikTok says it has made “significant investments” in data sharing and has granted data access to nearly 1,000 research teams across its research tools. “We are reviewing the European Commission’s findings, but requirements to relax data safeguards put the DSA and GDPR in direct tension. If full compliance with both is not possible, we urge regulators to provide clarity on how to reconcile these obligations,” a TikTok spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Meanwhile, Meta claimed it had made changes to its tools and processes to comply with DSA requirements. “We disagree with any suggestion that we have breached the DSA, and we continue to negotiate with the European Commission on these matters. In the EU, we have made changes to our content reporting options, appeals process, and data access tools since the DSA came into force, and we are confident that these solutions are consistent with what is required by EU law,” a Meta spokesperson said.

The findings are part of investigations launched into both companies in early 2024. The European Commission began looking into TikTok with a focus on advertising transparency, data access for researchers, content moderation, and protection of minors, among other concerns. The investigation into Meta was launched after the commission said it suspected Facebook and Instagram of violating the larger platforms’ rules on election integrity.

The DSA is the EU set of rules governing online platforms and content moderation, which broadly addresses concerns about the growing risks to consumer welfare in the digital sphere. The law imposes a range of additional requirements on large platforms like TikTok and Meta in areas such as algorithmic transparency and systemic risk.

Penalties for confirmed violations of the DRA can amount to up to 6% of global annual revenue.

The European Commission said Meta and TikTok will be able to review investigation documents, challenge the findings and commit to redressing them.

Note: This story has been updated to add comments from TikTok and Meta.