Undisclosed ads on TikTok skirt ban on profiling minors

"The EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) explicitly forbids profiling minors for advertising. However, the legislation defines "advertisements" narrowly, only covering "formal" ads purchased directly through a platform's own advertising system. It largely ignores influencer marketing and undisclosed promotional videos."

"In total, the bots watched 7095 videos over that period, 19 per cent of which contained some sort of advertisement. Of those advertising videos, around 56 per cent were undisclosed ads, where creators and brands push products without using the platform's required disclosure labels."

"The formal, platform-purchased ads shown to the minor accounts were limited - and in some cases non-existent - and showed no signs of personalised targeting. But the vast majority of the commercial content the simulated teens encountered consisted of undisclosed promotional videos."

The European Union's Digital Services Act prohibits profiling minors for advertising, yet TikTok circumvents this restriction through a significant legal loophole. The law narrowly defines advertisements as only formal ads purchased through platform advertising systems, largely ignoring influencer marketing and undisclosed promotional content. Researchers deployed automated accounts simulating teenagers and adults to study TikTok's algorithmic feed. Over 10 days, the accounts watched 7,095 videos, with 19 percent containing advertisements. Approximately 56 percent of advertising videos were undisclosed ads where creators and brands promoted products without required disclosure labels. While formal platform-purchased ads shown to minor accounts displayed limited personalized targeting, the majority of commercial content reaching simulated teens consisted of these undisclosed promotional videos.

Read at New Scientist