EU officials have wasted no time in enforcing their new powers under the Digital Services Act (DSA), and there's another new investigation by the European Commission into whether or not TikTok is already in violation of DSA rules related to the protection of minors inside the app.

Indeed, many concerns have been raised on various fronts, including systemic risks such as addiction to the application, its age verification process, security measures for minors, data transparency, and more, regarding TikTok's compliance.

European Commission

Based on the preliminary investigation conducted so far, including on the basis of an analysis of the risk assessment report sent by TikTok in September 2023, as well as TikTok's replies to the Commission's formal Requests for Information (on illegal content, protection of minors, and data access), the Commission has decided to open formal proceedings against TikTok under the Digital Services Act.

It is the second major probe under the new DSA laws, with X also currently under EU investigation over its efforts in restricting illegal content, and stopping the spread of misinformation in the app.

TikTok will now have to provide the EU investigators with more information so that an assessment can be made of its measures. In case it violates the DSA, it will have to face a maximum penalty of as much as 6% of its global earnings.
That is probably unlikely as the DSA also provides clauses that allow the investigators to "accept any commitment made by TikTok to remedy on the matters subject to the proceeding".

Given that the DSA has only recently been implemented, this will probably be the result of these first investigations, though EU officials may also want to deliver a strong message early on, in order to underscore the seriousness of the new rules.

Though there's also this:

The period for an in-depth inquiry would depend on the complexity of the case, the level of cooperation of the company in question with the Commission, and the exercise of rights of defence.

Thus, an inquiry can take several weeks and even months; so in the near future, we might not be sure how such an inquiry may pan out. But, in a nutshell, likely to have extreme penalties through heavy fines should such service be proven in violation because it doesn't heed issues raised for necessary improvement of shortcomings brought into focus by whistleblowers.

It will be interesting to see how the EU authorities look to implement the new regulations and keep each of the platforms in line with these more restrictive processes. That could get particularly tricky with the DSA, given the variable interpretations about what constitutes adequate action on certain fronts.

Therefore, these initial cases may hold great significance for setting precedents, and indeed, significant fines might be in store, while even compelling the apps to reevaluate their business strategies in the region. After all, Meta has made such threats in the past, and the new EU laws may well have further causes for concern, depending on how the officials go about these new laws.