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ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok has been warned by the European Union that it needs to overhaul the design of its platform over fears addictive features could “harm the physical and mental wellbeing of its users.”
In a preliminary decision on Friday, EU regulators found the video sharing platform may be in breach of its online content rulebook, the Digital Services Act, because “features of TikTok fuel the urge to keep scrolling and shift the brain of users into autopilot mode.”
“The commission considers that TikTok needs to change the basic design of its service,” the Brussels-based executive said in a statement. It added that this should include “disabling key addictive features such as ‘infinite scroll’ over time, implementing effective ‘screen time breaks’, including during the night, and adapting its recommender system.”
TikTok will now be pressed to come up with solutions to appease the commission’s concerns, or face a formal order to re-engineer its services and a fine of as much as 6% of its total worldwide annual turnover.
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EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said Friday that “social media addiction can have detrimental effects on the developing minds of children and teens.”
The push to address the risks social media poses to youngsters comes as Europe increasingly weighs comprehensive platform bans over perceived safety concerns.
Earlier this week, Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez said the country would block children from using social media platforms including Instagram and TikTok. Similar limits are being weighed in at least 10 other countries on the continent — France, the UK, Portugal, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Poland, Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands.
Last year, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she’ll examine possible restrictions on social media for children under 16 years.
TikTok has faced several enforcement actions in recent months under the EU’s DSA — which places guardrails on illegal and harmful content online.
Last year, it was told it hadn’t done enough to allow independent researchers to easily access data on its platforms — a requirement under the rulebook. Ahead of that, it was also warned it needed to do more to snuff out scam advertisements, in a case that TikTok eventually settled.
By Samuel Stolton
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