TikTok’s addictive design breaches Europe’s Digital Services Act and fails to adequately protect users, the European Commission said Friday in preliminary findings.
The Commission said that the video app relies on addictive features such as infinite scroll, which continuously feeds users new content every time they refresh their screen.
These design features put users’ brains on “autopilot” and encourage compulsive behavior, such as repeatedly opening and scrolling through the app, regulators said.
The preliminary findings reflect mounting pressure on social media platforms over screen timeparticularly for children and teenagers. Regulators worldwide are increasingly questioning whether tech companies are doing enough to protect young users from addictive design features.
The Commission added that TikTok appears unable to introduce adequate safeguards against the risks posed by its addictive features.
“Social media addiction can have detrimental effects on the developing minds of children and teens,” Henna Virkkunen, European Commission executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said on Friday.
“The Digital Services Act makes platforms responsible for the effects they can have on their users. In Europe, we enforce our legislation to protect our children and our citizens online,” she added.
TikTok must ‘change the basic design of its service’
The Commission took particular issue with TikTok’s Daily Screen Time featurewhich allows users to set a time limit and receive a notification when it is reached.
A one-hour time limit is automatically set for users aged 13 to 17. However, the Commission said this safeguard is ineffective because the warnings are “easy to dismiss.”
Regulators were also concerned with TikTok’s parental controls. Through a “Family Pairing” toolparents can customize safety settings for their children, set screen-time limits, receive activity reports and restrict certain search terms or hashtags.
Parental limits are not successful because they “require additional time and skills from parents to introduce the controls,” the Commission said.
To comply with the DSA, TikTok needs to “change the basic design of its service,” the Commission concluded.
The proposed changes include disabling infinite scroll, more effective “screen time breaks,” and changes to the app’s video recommendations.
How did TikTok respond?
In an email sent to Euronews Next, TikTok said the Commission’s preliminary findings “present a categorically false and entirely meritless depiction of our platform.”
“We will take whatever steps are necessary to challenge these findings through every means available to us,” the company added.
TikTok said there is no one-size-fits-all approach from experts to regulate screen time, so the platform offers numerous tools to help people make their own decisions about how much time to spend on it.
Along with screen time limits, the company said it also has features such as sleep hours that prompt people to close the app for the night and new well-being missions, a rewards system that gives users badges for sticking to their limits.
What happens next?
The investigation, launched in 2024, examines whether TikTok complies with the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU law that establishes obligations for online platforms to manage risks, moderate content and promote transparency.
The probe examined the company’s internal risk assessments, company data and scientific research on behavioral addiction.
The Commission said last October that TikTok and social media giant Meta violated the DSA because they make it difficult for researchers to access public data. Another investigation into TikTok’s advertising rules has already been concluded.
The findings are preliminary, meaning no fines or penalties have been imposed yet, and the investigation is ongoing.
TikTok now has the right to review the Commission’s findings and respond in writing, including with its own solutions. The Commission will also consult the European Board for Digital Services, an independent advisory group that applies the DSA rules and regulations.
The process could eventually lead to a non-compliance decision, which could be accompanied by a fine of up to 6 per cent of TikTok’s global annual turnover.
In the DSA investigation, TikTok sent recommendations to the Commission on how to improve its app. The company agreed to post the full content of all the ads run on its platform to an online ad repository that it will update every 24 hours.