TikTok has shared its newest EU content material enforcement and utilization numbers, as a part of its DSA disclosure reporting, which supplies some fascinating notes on moderation, consumer development, and extra inside the area
The newest report covers the interval between July and December 2024, and is the platform’s fourth DSA report. Beneath the EU Digital Companies Act, giant on-line platforms must share common knowledge on their efficiency in these key areas.
And whereas loads of the information is according to earlier tendencies, there are some factors of word.
First off, TikTok reviews that it eliminated virtually 21.2 million items of content material within the interval for Group Tips violations, together with an additional 1.5 million for violations of its advert insurance policies.
The Group Tips violations are according to the platform’s earlier DSA reviews, however its advert removals have jumped considerably since its final replace (3.4x total).
Why?
TikTok noticed a 4x improve in removals attributable to “Deceptive and False Content material” within the interval, and an identical improve in removals for “Grownup and Sexual Content material”.
There was additionally a 6x improve in removals for “IP Infringement”, so clearly, TikTok’s push into in-stream procuring has seen it up its enforcement on this entrance.
However the largest improve of all of them? A 19x leap in removals inside the “Politics and Faith and Tradition” class.
Contemplating the varied main elections inside the interval, that’s not an enormous shock, however it’s fascinating to see how some politically-motivated teams seemingly sought to make use of TikTok to broaden their messaging. Possibly that labored to a point, however the elimination numbers present that TikTok’s checking processes additionally caught out loads of deceptive adverts as nicely.
That would additionally level to extra censorship of “tradition” based mostly exercise, however there’s no particular breakdown of the removals within the report.
By way of content material moderation, TikTok reviews having 5,807 individuals devoted to content material moderation of content material within the EU as of the top of December 2024.
Which is a decline from its earlier reviews.
In its final replace, revealed in October final yr, TikTok reported having 6,354 EU moderators, so it’s seemingly lowered that by 547 workers over the past six months.
That’s unlikely to make EU regulators too pleased, although TikTok did put up a slight improve moderately workers final report (+67).
Possibly, then, that is only a correction in staffing, although it’s a major correction if that’s the case, which extra doubtless signifies that it’s placing extra reliance on its AI methods to detect and spotlight potential points.
Certainly, TikTok additionally notes that:
“Within the second half of 2024, the accuracy fee for our automated moderation applied sciences was 99.1%. This builds upon the excessive accuracy we achieved within the first half of the yr, at the same time as moderation volumes elevated, reflecting our continued funding in bettering precision and decreasing incorrect removals.”
As such, it appears that evidently TikTok is decreasing its reliance on human moderators over time, which is one other factor to look at.
Lastly, by way of customers, TikTok reviews having 159.1 million month-to-month energetic customers in Europe within the interval.
That’s a rise of round 9 million on its final report, which exhibits that TikTok is steadily rising within the area, and constructing its broader affect.
Which is nice information, as its future within the U.S. nonetheless hangs within the stability. The corporate can be trying to improve its push on TikTok procuring inside Europe to capitalize on its recognition.
Germany, France, Italy and Spain stay TikTok’s key EU nations, now with over 20 million customers every.
For context, the U.S. at the moment has round 170 million TikTok customers.
These are some fascinating notes, which level to TikTok’s rising efforts to stamp out sure parts, notably referring to IP violations and deceptive merchandise.
As a result of these might erode confidence in its in-app gross sales instruments, and as such, TikTok wants to make sure that its methods are detecting such, whereas it’ll even be fascinating to see how its removals associated to faith and politics shift, or not, over time.
You may try TikTok’s newest DSA report right here.
