France, Oct. 24 -- The European Union has accused social media giants Meta and TikTok of breaking the bloc's strict rules on online content, opening the door to potentially hefty fines.

In a statement released on Friday, the European Commission said Meta's Facebook and Instagram platforms, along with TikTok, had violated the Digital Services Act (DSA) - the EU's flagship legislation on online transparency and accountability,which came into force last year.

The DSA demands that major online platforms do more to tackle illegal content, open up their algorithms to scrutiny, and ensure researchers can study how their systems affect users - particularly children.

According to the Commission, both Meta and TikTok have failed to give research...