TikTok Shares Latest Data on EU Content Removals and User Numbers

TikTok has shared its newest EU content material enforcement and utilization numbers, as a part of its DSA disclosure reporting, which offers some attention-grabbing notes on moderation, person development, and extra inside the area

The most recent report covers the interval between July and December 2024, and is the platform’s fourth DSA report. Beneath the EU Digital Companies Act, massive on-line platforms must share common knowledge on their efficiency in these key areas.

And whereas lots of the data is in keeping with earlier tendencies, there are some factors of word.

First off, TikTok stories that it eliminated nearly 21.2 million items of content material within the interval for Neighborhood Pointers violations, together with an additional 1.5 million for violations of its advert insurance policies.

The Neighborhood Pointers violations are in keeping with the platform’s earlier DSA stories, however its advert removals have jumped considerably since its final replace (3.4x total).

Why?

TikTok noticed a 4x enhance in removals on account of “Deceptive and False Content material” within the interval, and an analogous enhance in removals for “Grownup and Sexual Content material”.

There was additionally a 6x enhance in removals for “IP Infringement”, so clearly, TikTok’s push into in-stream buying has seen it up its enforcement on this entrance.

However the largest enhance of all of them? A 19x bounce in removals inside the “Politics and Faith and Tradition” class.

Contemplating the assorted main elections inside the interval, that’s not an enormous shock, however it’s attention-grabbing to see how some politically-motivated teams seemingly sought to make use of TikTok to broaden their messaging. Perhaps that labored to some extent, however the elimination numbers present that TikTok’s checking processes additionally caught out lots of deceptive advertisements as properly.

That would additionally level to extra censorship of “tradition” primarily based exercise, however there’s no particular breakdown of the removals within the report.

When it comes to content material moderation, TikTok stories having 5,807 folks 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 stories.

In its final replace, printed in October final 12 months, 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 glad, although TikTok did submit a slight enhance sparsely workers final report (+67).

Perhaps, then, that is only a correction in staffing, although it’s a major correction if that’s the case, which extra possible 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 charge for our automated moderation applied sciences was 99.1%. This builds upon the excessive accuracy we achieved within the first half of the 12 months, at the same time as moderation volumes elevated, reflecting our continued funding in enhancing precision and lowering incorrect removals.”

As such, evidently TikTok is lowering its reliance on human moderators over time, which is one other aspect to observe.

Lastly, by way of customers, TikTok stories 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 enhance its push on TikTok buying inside Europe to capitalize on its reputation.

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 attention-grabbing notes, which level to TikTok’s growing efforts to stamp out sure components, significantly regarding IP violations and deceptive merchandise.

As a result of these may 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 attention-grabbing to see how its removals associated to faith and politics shift, or not, over time.

You’ll be able to take a look at TikTok’s newest DSA report right here.