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TikTok is challenging the European Union’s fee to enforce a content moderation law under its new Digital Services Act (DSA). According to TikTok, it disagrees with the way the fee has been calculated, particularly the use of flawed third-party estimates of its monthly active user numbers as a basis.
TikTok had paid the fee last year and has confirmed its intention to appeal the decision. Last year, TikTok reported an average of 125 million monthly active users in the EU.
The DSA requires “very large” online platforms to do more to regulate content and protect online shoppers from fraud. Companies on the list, including TikTok, are required to pay fees to the European Commission to finance the DSA’s enforcement.
The fees are calculated in proportion to the size of the service, based on the number of EU users, and do not exceed 0.05 percent of the provider’s annual worldwide net income.
Meta, the owner of Facebook, also announced on Wednesday that it is challenging the methodology used to calculate the fees. The DSA took effect for the largest companies last year and will apply to all firms from February 17, 2024.
In addition to TikTok and Meta, online retailers Amazon and Zalando have also challenged the EU’s designation of them as “very large” platforms. These legal challenges highlight the complexities and disagreements surrounding the implementation of the DSA and the enforcement of content moderation regulations by the EU.
