On Wednesday the group of 32 lawmakers asked the European Commission, in charge of enforcing the EU’s platform rules on TikTok to open another investigation into the platform to verify if it is “causing a systemic risk” to freedom of expression and civic discourse.
“Users have reported issues with uploading videos, reduced reach, and unusually low view counts, for content that mention the words Epstein, ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and Minnesota” and some of the signatories “can personally attest that the same episodes — glitches and frozen videos” also happened in Berlin and Brussels, the MEPs said.
A TikTok spokesperson said there are no platform rules against “sharing the name ‘Epstein’ in direct messages,” and that an issue experienced by some users was a technical problem “with one of our safety systems incorrectly responding in some instances.”
TikTok is already under investigation for breaching its obligations around systemic risks under the Digital Services Act.
The 32 signatories are primarily MEPs from the Greens, but also from The Left and the Socialists & Democrats.
The platform struck a deal in late January with a group of investors including Oracle and Abu Dhabi’s MGX, ending a yearslong saga over the ownership of its United States operations.
“TikTok is extremely cooperative” with the DSA investigation and has “taken a number of measures to comply with the law,” said Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier. He added that this “shows that when you want to engage with the Commission, we are very happy to engage with you.”
This article has been updated with response from the Commission.
