Expert assessment: Social networks face sanctions for violating the Digital Services Act - analysis of content harmful to minors.

Expert assessment: Social networks face sanctions for violating the Digital Services Act - analysis of content harmful to minors.

According to a report by www.heise.de, experts from the civil society organization Reset.tech draw attention to problems with child protection on social networks such as TikTok, X and Instagram. An examination of the moderation and filtering systems, the comprehensibility of the terms of use for young members and the recommendation algorithms shows possible violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA). If the EU Commission agrees with this assessment, the operators could face severe sanctions.

The researchers' analysis found that the deletion rate is highest on Instagram, particularly for posts about suicide and self-harm. X and TikTok showed lower deletion rates for content harmful to minors. In addition, the platforms' recommendation algorithms encourage the spread of questionable content. The experts also point out that legal components such as terms of use may not be understood by young users and are sometimes available in selected languages.

Furthermore, problematic advertising practices were identified by Google, TikTok and Meta, which could have an impact on the protection of minors. Despite extensive security measures by Meta and TikTok, the experts are critical of the platforms' failure and are calling for better control of DSA compliance by the EU Commission.

The results of this investigation could have serious implications for the social networking market and consumer protection. If there are sanctions against the operators, this could undermine users' trust in these platforms and lead to a decline in the number of users. In addition, stricter regulations could be introduced for social networks in order to strengthen the protection of minors.

It remains to be seen how the EU Commission will react to the results of the study and whether measures will be taken to improve the protection of minors in social networks. It is hoped that operators and authorities will work together to ensure the safety and protection of young users on social networks.