EU threatens Meta, TikTok with billions in fines over research 'black box' around kids' content

BRUSSELS (CN) — European regulators slammed Meta and TikTok on Friday for systematically walling off researchers from studying what content reaches children, setting up nearly $20 billion in potential fines in Brussels’ most aggressive strike yet against the industry’s data vaults.

The European Commission — the EU’s executive arm — said the tech giants have erected such high barriers to data access that researchers are left with incomplete or unreliable information, making it nearly impossible to study whether children are exposed to harmful content.

“Allowing researchers access to platforms’ data is an essential transparency obligation,” regulators said Friday, because it lets the public scrutinize platforms’ impact on physical and mental health.

But Facebook, Instagram and TikTok “may have put in place burdensome procedures and tools for researchers to request access to public data,” the commission said. The preliminary findings fall under the Digital Services Act — Europe’s sweeping content moderation law that took effect in 2024 — giving Brussels power to impose fines of up to 6% of global revenue for violations.

For Meta, that’s $9.9 billion based on 2024 revenue of $164.5 billion. For ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, it’s $9.3 billion based on reported 2024 revenue of around $155 billion.

Brussels zeroed in on Meta’s decision to shut down CrowdTangle “without an adequate replacement.” CrowdTangle was a dashboard that let researchers and journalists track what content was going viral on Facebook and Instagram in real time — particularly useful for spotting misinformation during elections. Meta pulled the plug just before European Parliament elections in June 2024, leaving researchers flying blind at a critical moment.

The action is part of a broader EU push on child safety. Earlier this month, the EU opened investigations into Snapchat, YouTube and app stores over age verification and whether they prevent minors from accessing harmful content and illegal products.

The enforcement machinery is moving, but slowly. The commission already hit X with preliminary findings in July 2024 and also opened proceedings against AliExpress and Temu. Despite multiple ongoing cases, no platform has yet been fined under the Digital Services Act.

That lack of follow-through gives ammunition to critics like the Trump administration, which has called the law “Orwellian” and accused Europe of targeting American companies.

“Our democracies depend on trust,” said Henna Virkkunen Friday, the commission’s executive vice president for tech policy. “That means platforms must empower users, respect their rights and open their systems to scrutiny.”

The preliminary findings land just five days before even tougher transparency requirements kick in Wednesday, forcing platforms to hand over non-public data for the first time.

First coordinated strike

The findings mark the first time Brussels has simultaneously gone after multiple platforms for violating Digital Services Act data access rules, signaling regulators are done negotiating quietly.

Beyond blocking researchers, the commission found Meta buries tools for reporting illegal content like child sexual abuse material. Facebook and Instagram don’t offer “a user-friendly and easily accessible ‘Notice and Action’ mechanism,” regulators said, and the platforms have “deceptive interface designs” that confuse users and discourage reporting.

Meta’s appeals systems also don’t “allow users to provide explanations or supporting evidence to substantiate their appeals,” making it nearly impossible to challenge content decisions.

The two companies mounted starkly different defenses.

Meta rejected the accusations outright. “We disagree with any suggestion that we have breached the DSA, and we continue to negotiate” with the commission, Meta’s spokesperson Ben Walters told Courthouse News. The company insists changes it’s made to reporting tools, appeals processes and researcher access meet EU requirements.

TikTok took a different approach, arguing Brussels has created an impossible legal trap. The commission’s data sharing demands clash directly with Europe’s strict privacy law, a representative said: “If it is not possible to fully comply with both, we urge regulators to provide clarity on how these obligations should be reconciled.”

He noted nearly 1,000 research teams have accessed data through TikTok’s tools.

The findings stem from investigations the commission opened against Meta in April 2024 and TikTok in February 2024. Both probes are ongoing, with regulators still examining how platforms protect minors and handle election-related risks.

Ireland’s Digital Services Coordinator participated in the investigation because Meta’s European headquarters are there. The platforms can now review the commission’s files, respond in writing and implement fixes before any final decision.

The EU executive will now consult the European Board for Digital Services before reaching conclusions. There’s no legal deadline — but if violations are confirmed, Brussels can impose fines and ongoing penalties to force compliance.

Facebook, Instagram and TikTok were designated Very Large Online Platforms in April 2023, triggering enhanced transparency and researcher access obligations. Meta’s platforms have more than 250 million combined monthly users in the EU. TikTok has about 136 million.

The irony isn’t lost on Brussels. Platforms are being accused of failing to meet current transparency requirements just days before facing even stricter ones — timing that suggests regulators are drawing a line after months of what they see as foot-dragging.

Courthouse News correspondent Yuval Molina is based in Brussels, Belgium.