The European Union said TikTok is breaking the rules for online content. They say TikTok isn't clear enough about the adverts that people see on the app.

The EU Commission said that TikTok's ad library doesn't meet the rules of the Digital Services Act (DSA), according to early results from their investigation.

The Commission said that ad information is very important for researchers. It helps them find fake ads and other bad campaigns that spread wrong information, especially during elections.

The DSA is a set of rules that tries to make social media better and safer. It helps protect people from things like fake news that can affect elections. Social media companies need to show who is paying for ads and why people are seeing them.

The Commission said TikTok doesn't give enough information about what the ads show, who sees them, and who pays for them. They said you can't easily search for ads using this information, "which makes the tool less useful."

TikTok said they are looking at what the Commission found and will continue to do what they need to do for the Digital Services Act.

The company said they agree with the aim of the rules and are making their ads more open. However, they don't agree with some of the Commission's ideas. They also said the advice is coming from early results, not from clear rules everyone can see.

Henna Virkkunen said that problems with the advertising database mean they can't fully check the risks of how the system targets people with ads. She is in charge of technology, security, and democracy for the commission.

Virkkunen said that it's important to be clear about online adverts, like who pays for them and who they are trying to reach. This helps keep things fair for everyone. She said that people need to know who is behind the adverts they see, especially when it comes to things like elections, health, and avoiding fake ads.

TikTok can now respond before the Commission makes its final choice. This choice could mean TikTok has to pay a fine of up to 6% of its yearly income from all over the world.

TikTok is being checked by the EU because there were problems with the election in Romania last year. People said there were mistakes and that Russia interfered, and the EU wants to know if TikTok did enough to prevent these problems.