Brussels, Belgium. The European Commission on Friday charged TikTok with breaching EU online content rules over features it said are addictive and told the company to change its app design or risk a fine of up to 6% of owner ByteDance’s global turnover.
Focus of the Commission’s charges
The Commission’s charges focus on TikTok’s design features, including infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and its highly personalised recommender system.
The Commission cited the platform’s generation of new content to constantly reward users, which it said fuels the urge to keep scrolling and shifts users’ brains into autopilot mode.
Investigation under the Digital Services Act
The Commission set out its charges after a year-long investigation under the Digital Services Act, which requires large online platforms to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content.
Concerns about user wellbeing
The EU regulator said TikTok did not adequately assess how these features could harm the physical and mental wellbeing of users, including children and vulnerable adults.
It accused TikTok of disregarding indicators of compulsive use, including the time that minors spend on the app at night and the frequency with which users open it.
TikTok response and broader regulatory context
TikTok criticised the Commission’s charges, with a spokesperson saying the Commission’s preliminary findings present “a categorically false and entirely meritless depiction” of the platform and that the company would challenge them.
The move underscores the European Union’s crackdown on Big Tech, which has drawn criticism from the U.S. government over censorship and led to threats of tariffs.
How do you think regulators should measure whether app features encourage compulsive use?