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EU questions TikTok over ‘addictive’ new Lite app launched in Spain

The EU gave TikTok 24 hours to provide a risk assessment on its new Lite app launched in France and Spain over concerns of its potential impact on children and users' mental health, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

Published: 17 April 2024 14:29 CEST
EU questions TikTok over 'addictive' new Lite app launched in Spain
The logo of the Chinese social network application TikTok Lite. (Photo by Kiran RIDLEY / AFP)

The new rewards app TikTok Lite arrived in the two countries this month and allows users aged 18 and over to earn points that can be exchanged for goods like vouchers or gift cards.

The commission said TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, should have carried out the risk assessment before deploying the app and now wants “more details”.

The demand “concerns the potential impact of the new ‘Task and Reward Lite’ programme on the protection of minors, as well as on the mental health of users, in particular in relation to the potential stimulation of addictive behaviour”, it said.

The commission said in a statement it also wants to know what measures the platform has put in place to mitigate the risks identified.

The request for information was made under a new content moderation law known as the Digital Services Act (DSA), which has stringent rules for 22 of the world’s biggest online platforms including TikTok.

The demand is a first step in a procedure and does not mean TikTok will face further action. That would depend on what information the company gives to the EU.

Alongside the 24-hour deadline for the risk assessment, TikTok must provide the other information by April 26, the commission said.

The company said it would honour the request.

“We have already been in direct contact with the commission regarding this product and will respond to the request for information,” a TikTok spokesperson said.

This is not the first time TikTok is in the European Union’s crosshairs.

Brussels in February opened a formal probe under the DSA into TikTok over alleged breaches of its obligations to protect minors online.

Its focus is especially on whether the company is doing enough to address negative impacts on young people.

The commission has made similar requests for information from TikTok over other issues including the risks to upcoming EU elections in June from artificial intelligence.

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TECH

Spain’s broadband customers to be left without internet as fibre takes over

On Friday April 19th Spain will begin its total migration from ADSL to fibre optic, a measure which will leave 440,000 households in 7,440 municipalities across the country without internet. 

Published: 19 April 2024 11:30 CEST
Spain's broadband customers to be left without internet as fibre takes over

Spain is bidding farewell to broadband internet as it officially and completely moves over to fibre optic internet.

According to Spain’s National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), there are still 440,000 ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) connections in use in Spain.

The technology was launched in the early 2000s and brought the internet to millions of Spanish homes and businesses, but in recent years it has fallen into disuse due to the relentless advance of fibre optic internet, which offers a more stable and faster internet connection. 

The gradual closure of Spain’s 8,526 copper exchanges, the material that allows ADSL connections in Spain, means that those who haven’t made the changeover already will be left without internet access soon.

Telefónica, which owns Movistar, will start cutting off its ADSL services on April 19th, Vodafone will do so in June and Orange is in the process of notifying its broadband customers. 

Most ADSL users have already been notified via text message, letter, email and fax, but there are still 7,440 municipalities across Spain, mostly rural ones, where broadband is still the primary source of internet.

Most of these are located in Castilla y León (38 percent); Castilla La Mancha (12 percent); the Valencia region (10 percent); Andalusia and Catalonia (9 percent); Madrid and La Rioja (5 percent); Cantabria and Galicia (3 percent), the Canary Islands, Asturias and the Balearic Islands (2 percent) and Murcia (1 percent).

“If you have contracted a copper product with any operator and your home is under the umbrella of one of the plants affected by the closure, you will have to switch to an alternative offer, probably with fibre or radio,” the CNMC has warned. 

“Your new installation will be completely free and you will also be able to keep your current phone number.”

Movistar has assured its broadband customers that if fibre optic internet isn’t an option for them, it will offer satellite or radio frequency internet access to them. 

Affected ADSL users should contact their service providers as soon as possible.

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