# The DSA's Blind Spot: Algorithmic Audit of Advertising and Minor Profiling on TikTok

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.05653 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.05653/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 8 of its 73 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 5 Mar 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 8 of 8)

- [Auditing Radicalization Pathways on YouTube](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.08313/) (2019)
- [An Audit of Misinformation Filter Bubbles on YouTube: Bubble Bursting and Recent Behavior Changes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.13769/) (2022)
- [Auditing YouTube's Recommendation Algorithm for Misinformation Filter Bubbles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.10085/) (2022)
- [WEIRD Audits? Research Trends, Linguistic and Geographical Disparities in the Algorithm Audits of Online Platforms -- A Systematic Literature Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.11194/) (2024)
- [Revisiting Algorithmic Audits of TikTok: Poor Reproducibility and Short-term Validity of Findings](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.18140/) (2025)
- [Auditing for Bias in Ad Delivery Using Inferred Demographic Attributes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.23394/) (2024)
- [The EU Digital Services Act: what does it mean for online advertising and adtech?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.05764/) (2025)
- [Beyond the Checkbox: Strengthening DSA Compliance Through Social Media Algorithmic Auditing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.18405/) (2026)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [SoK: Formal Methods for Fact-Checking and Information Integrity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.23239/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Adolescents spend an increasing amount of their time in digital environments where their still-developing cognitive capacities leave them unable to recognize or resist commercial persuasion. Article 28(2) of the DSA responds to this vulnerability by prohibiting profiling-based advertising to minors. However, the regulation's narrow definition of "advertisement" excludes current advertising practices including influencer paid partnerships and brand promotional content that serve functionally equivalent commercial purposes. We provide the first empirical evidence of how this definitional gap operates in practice through an algorithmic audit of TikTok. Our approach deploys sock-puppet accounts simulating a pair of minor and adult users with matching interest profiles. The content recommended to these users is automatically annotated, enabling systematic statistical analysis. Our findings reveal a stark regulatory paradox. TikTok demonstrates formal compliance with Article 28(2) by shielding minors from profiled formal advertisements, yet both disclosed and undisclosed ads exhibit significant profiling aligned with user interests (5-8 times stronger than for adult formal advertising). The strongest profiling emerges within undisclosed commercial content, where creators/brands fail to label paid partnership/promotional content and the platform neither corrects this omission nor prevents its personalized delivery to minors. These results demonstrate that minors remain exposed to algorithmically targeted commercial content through the same recommendation mechanisms the DSA seeks to constrain. We argue that protecting minors requires expanding the definition of advertisement in EU law to encompass influencer and brand promotional content, and ensuring that any such expansion is accompanied by a corresponding prohibition on profiling-based targeting of minors.