The bloc said the platform needs to change how the For You page works to help protect users’ mental health.
The European Commission has accused TikTok of breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA) over the potentially harmful effects of the recommendation system it uses on the For You page. The European Union's regulatory arm said the personalized nature of the algorithm means that the more a user interacts with a certain kind of content, the more they see similar videos.
"This design can be harmful when such endless and repeated exposure involves, for example, content about sadness, isolation or body image," the Commission said. "These 'rabbit holes' can have a detrimental impact on users' mental health, especially that of vulnerable adults and minors."
In its preliminary findings, the regulator said TikTok didn't do enough to assess how the algorithm could draw users into these rabbit holes and put their wellbeing at risk. Nor did it put sufficient measures in place to mitigate those risks, the Commission said, noting that when a user taps the "not interested" button on a video, that "may not be enough to change the content feed."
" If TikTok doesn't sufficiently resolve the matter in the Commission's eyes and the EU confirms the findings, parent company ByteDance could be on the hook for a fine of as much as six percent of its annual global revenue.
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