Italy Starts Investigation of TikTok’s Content Monitoring

AGCM, an Italian competition and market authority, launched an investigation into TikTok’s European company in Ireland and related units. The body is accusing the social media player of failing to adequately monitor third-party content.

The authority outlined its suspicions in a statement and revealed it had conducted an inspection of TikTok’s Italian headquarters with the police. AGCM’s investigation comprises Europe-wide operation TikTok Technology, based in the Republic of Ireland, alongside operations in the UK and Italy.

AGCM explained the investigation followed the publication of numerous videos of young people who engage in self-harming behavior and related viral challenges, noting the app’s popularity with vulnerable users. It accused the company of not following its own guidelines about removing content related to self-harm, suicide, and bad nutrition. Alongside moderation and content policies, AGCM is assessing the exploitation of AI techniques likely to cause undue conditioning of users.