The European Union issued preliminary findings on July 24 that TikTok has violated rules designed to protect the privacy of minors, a determination that could trigger yet another substantial financial penalty against the ByteDance-owned platform. The case falls under the Digital Services Act, the EU’s sweeping regulatory framework for digital platforms.
A tab that keeps growing
In September 2023, Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner hit TikTok with a €345 million fine for GDPR violations related to children’s data. The investigation found that the platform had allowed accounts for users under 13 and failed to adequately safeguard their personal information during the second half of 2020.
Then there’s the separate €530 million fine related to data transfers to China, which was upheld by the Irish High Court in 2026. Add it up, and TikTok’s European regulatory bill already exceeds €875 million before this latest action is even finalized.
What the DSA changes
The DSA is the EU’s newer, broader regulatory toolkit specifically designed to govern how large digital platforms operate. It covers content moderation, algorithmic transparency, and, critically, protections for minors. Under the DSA, fines can reach up to 6% of a company’s global annual revenue.
TikTok has been given the opportunity to respond to these preliminary findings, which is standard procedure. No specific fine has been determined at this stage.
The bigger regulatory picture
The 2020 violations identified by the Irish DPC, where children under 13 were found to have active accounts, established a pattern that European authorities have not forgotten.
What this means for investors
ByteDance is privately held, so there’s no stock ticker to watch plunge on this news. Publicly traded social media companies operating in Europe, from Meta to Snap, should view TikTok’s regulatory trajectory as a leading indicator, as compliance costs are rising and the penalties for getting it wrong are rising faster.
TikTok’s response to these preliminary findings will be worth monitoring closely. The platform’s ability to satisfy European regulators will determine not just the size of the eventual penalty, but whether it faces more severe operational constraints in one of the world’s largest digital markets.