Italy Launches Investigation into TikTok for Potentially Harmful Content.

The watchdog that supervises competitive behaviors in Italy has initiated an investigation into TikTok, a social media platform owned by Chinese company, due to its alleged failure to remove harmful content.

Italy's recent announcement adds to the growing list of prohibitions and limitations aimed at the social media platform across Europe and the United States.

The Dutch government has recommended that officials refrain from installing the application on their work mobiles. This advice is similar to that given by other nations, such as the United States, Belgium, and Britain.

What is the reason behind Italy's investigation of TikTok?

On Tuesday, the antitrust authority in Italy incriminated TikTok for not complying with its regulations, specifically in relation to not detecting and removing content that is linked to activities such as self-harm, suicide, and consumption of unhealthy foods.

A new trend on the app has emerged and it's called the "French scar" challenge. It's become extremely popular and involves causing bruises on your face by pinching it.

Can social media lead to body dissatisfaction?

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Officials in Italy are currently looking into TikTok's Irish department, which is responsible for managing its customer relations in Europe. In addition, Italian police also paid a visit to TikTok's headquarters in the country earlier this week.

Prohibitions on the Use of Company Phones

The big social media company has been hit with a bunch of bans happening all at once.

On Tuesday, the Netherlands advised central government workers to avoid downloading mobile applications from countries that have a cyber program that is hostile towards the Netherlands or Dutch interests. The move was made due to concerns over cyber security.

Even though TikTok is not specifically mentioned in the memo, it is widely believed that ByteDance, a Chinese company, will be affected by it. The AIVD, which is the national intelligence agency, recently included China in a list of countries where apps pose an increased risk of espionage, along with Russia, North Korea, and Iran.

The United States considers prohibiting the use of TikTok, a social media platform.

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Both the UK and the US administrations implemented comparable actions alongside the European Union's (EU) executive body, the European Commission. The BBC, a state-owned broadcasting organization in the UK, suggested its staff to uninstall the software from their official mobile devices.

Similarly, on Tuesday, Emilie Enger Mehl, the Justice Minister and the youngest member of Norway's government, suggested the same advice. Mehl had faced criticism from the public in the past due to her own frequent usage of TikTok.

As the CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, gets ready to face US lawmakers on Thursday, the app is experiencing increasing scrutiny. It is expected that Chew will be asked tough questions regarding TikTok's privacy measures and their approach to data security, as well as any potential connections with the Chinese government.

Chew talked directly to TikTok users, who he believes to be approximately 150 million people in the US. He spoke in a TikTok video about how the hearing is a crucial moment for the company.

"I will be addressing Congress this week to discuss our efforts in safeguarding citizens through our application," he stated.

The app makes Western governments concerned as they believe it could potentially harm cybersecurity and jeopardize data privacy. Additionally, there are worries that the app could be used to endorse pro-Beijing propaganda and distribute false information.

What makes TikTok so captivating?

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There is no proof yet that the application owned by China has provided the Chinese government with user data.

The application accepted in November of the previous year that several of its workers positioned in China had the capability of gaining access to confidential information of European users. It was later disclosed a month after that these employees utilized the obtained data to keep an eye on journalists, with the objective of spotting which employee had disclosed undisclosed information to the press.

Rewritten: Several news sources including AFP, AP, and Reuters reported on the topic of RMT/NM.