What happens to TikTok in Italy
The de facto blocking of TikTok in Italy decided by the Guarantor for the confidentiality of personal data. The position of the company. And expert comments
T iktok must in fact stop in Italy until February 15. This was decided by the Guarantor for the confidentiality of personal data, anticipating the results of the two investigations by the Palermo Prosecutor's Office on the death of a 10-year-old girl.
THE AGE QUESTION ON TIKTOK
Age is the lever of the unprecedented ban in our country: under Italian law, minors under the age of fourteen cannot have a profile on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube or Facebook without parental consent. According to the rules of the Chinese Bytedance app , registration for under 13s is prohibited.
THE GUARANTOR'S NOTE ON TIKTOK
“We have received and are analyzing the information provided by the Guarantor. Privacy and security are a top priority for TikTok and we are constantly working to strengthen our policies, processes and technologies to protect our entire community and our younger users in particular ”. Thus , in a note, a spokesperson for TikTok regarding the decision of the Authority for the protection of personal data that yesterday – after the case of the 10-year-old girl who died in Palermo – ordered the blocking of all social media accounts " whose age has not been ascertained with certainty ".
WHAT THE GUARANTOR HAS DECIDED ABOUT TIKTOK
Therefore, blocking for TikTok "of the use of data of users for whom the age of the registry has not been ascertained with certainty". In fact, a closure of the social network, as explained to Repubblica by the Privacy Guarantor. Because TikTok does not currently have "secure" identity assessment tools. And in fact the note of the Guarantor is entitled: "The Guarantor orders the blocking of the social network". The ban will last until February 15.
THE TIKTOK BLOCK EXPLAINED BY THE GUARANTOR
"For us it technically corresponds to a selective blocking of under 13s: the truth is that the app is presumably unable to verify the age of others and will have to block everything", explained Guido Scorza, member of the Board of the Guarantor and speaker of the provision. "We have received and are analyzing the information of the Guarantor," commented a spokesperson for TikTok.
WHERE DOES THE GUARANTOR'S DECISION ON TIKTOK COME FROM?
The decision of the Guarantor comes on the day in which in Palermo the doctors took the organs donated by the family of Antonella Sicomero, the 10-year-old girl victim of a social challenge on TikTok. The girl on Wednesday evening had tightened a belt around her father's neck to participate in the “Blackout challenge”, a test of endurance in which you have to remain breathless as long as possible.
THE COMMENT OF SCORZA (GUARANTOR) ON TIKTOK
“There would be technologies capable of ascertaining age, but TikTok does not currently use these tools. This confirms the need for a block, ”explains Guido Scorza, rapporteur of the provision of the Guarantor. What happens now? "The social network – continues Scorza – should cease any treatment connected to the provision of the service of users of which I am unable to verify that they are over thirteen and if they did not they would face a penalty of up to 20 million euros".
THE PARTICULARITY OF TIKTOK
The uniqueness of TikTok, however, lies "in the multiplication of contents, both by those who create them inspired by those already posted by others by inventing remixes, memes or duets, and by those who consult them, without having to open a profile and still enjoying of the suggestions of the algorithm, and it can go on indefinitely », Alessandro Bogliari, CEO of The Influencer Marketing Factory, explained to Corriere della Sera .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/che-cosa-succedera-a-tiktok-in-italia/ on Sat, 23 Jan 2021 09:34:57 +0000.