Venezuela’s highest court has fined TikTok $10 million, citing the platform’s failure to prevent the spread of dangerous viral challenges.
The decision comes in the wake of a tragic incident where three teenagers lost their lives after participating in a challenge that involved ingesting toxic chemicals. Authorities have held TikTok partially responsible, arguing that it did not implement “necessary and adequate measures” to curb harmful content.
According to a report from Voice of America, the court has given TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, just eight days to pay the fine. In addition, the ruling mandates that ByteDance establish an office in Venezuela to ensure compliance with local regulations and to better monitor content on the platform.
TikTok has yet to release an official statement addressing the fine or its plans to comply with the court’s directives.
Meanwhile, a Russian court has fined TikTok three million roubles (approximately $29,000) for allegedly violating the country’s legal restrictions on sharing specific types of information.
The Moscow courts’ press service announced the decision on Friday but did not provide details about the nature of the complaint against the platform.
