Islamabad: (Web Desk) Italy’s competition watchdog said it had opened an investigation into video app TikTok for failing to enforce its own rules on removing “dangerous content” related to suicide and self-harm.

According to the source, the Italian Competition Authority said its probe, which targets Irish company TikTok Technology Limited, a subsidiary of Chinese-owned TikTok, was sparked by videos of young people “adopting self-harming behavior”, including the “French scar challenge”. In the challenge, children pinch their cheeks violently to create bruising, a phenomenon explained by numerous tutorials on TikTok that has caused concern in the education and health sectors.

As per details the watchdog said it had carried out an inspection of the Italian headquarters of TikTok with the help of financial police. “The guidelines of the companies who own the platform, which envision the removal of dangerous content that instigate suicide, self-harm and unhealthy nutrition, are not applied.” It accused the platform of failing to set up adequate monitoring systems, especially given the many “particularly vulnerable” minors who used it.

Furthermore in a statement, TikTok said it employed more than 40,000 “safety professionals” and said it does not allow content “showing or promoting” the activities cited by the watchdog. “We take extra care to protect teenagers in particular,” it said. Western authorities have been taking an increasingly firm approach to TikTok, owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance, over fears that user data could be used or abused by Chinese officials.

Moreover following in the footsteps of the United States and the European Union, the UK banned the application on government devices. The app, which boasts more than one billion active users, is regularly accused of spreading disinformation, putting users in danger with hazardous “challenge” videos, and allowing pornography, even though it is supposed to prohibit nudity.

Several children have also reportedly died while trying to replicate the so-called blackout challenge, which involves users holding their breath until they pass out.

Meanwhile Dutch government advised officials not to install TikTok

According to the source, the Dutch government advised officials not to install the Chinese-owned video app TikTok or use social media from other countries with “offensive” cyber programs.

As per details following similar moves by other Western nations, the Dutch eventually want to ban “spy-sensitive” apps from countries like China, Iran, North Korea and Russia altogether from phones used by civil servants.

Furthermore Dutch digital minister Alexandra van Huffelen said the decision followed a recommendation by the country’s secret service (AIVD) which found such apps posed “an inherent espionage risk. The first step is to immediately discourage civil servants from having apps installed and using them on their mobile work equipment from companies in countries with an offensive cyber program against the Netherlands,” she said.

Moreover the Netherlands then planned to issue officials with mobile phones that only allow the installation of pre-approved apps and software, Van Huffelen added in a letter to parliament. The move was based on consultation with the European Union, she said. TikTok is hugely popular worldwide for sharing short, viral videos.

But governments in Britain, the United States, Canada and New Zealand have banned TikTok on work devices, as has the European Commission. Global action against TikTok kicked off in earnest in India in 2020.

Meanwhile TikTok has admitted ByteDance employees in China accessed details of US accounts but it has always denied turning over data to the Chinese authorities. US President Joe Biden has threatened to ban the app outright unless TikTok separates from ByteDance.