The European Commission has provisionally found TikTok in breach of the Digital Services Act. The complaint focuses on the app’s addiction‑prone design, which includes features such as infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications and a highly personalised recommendation system. The Commission concluded that TikTok failed to adequately assess how these functions could affect users’ physical and mental well‑being, particularly for minors and vulnerable adults.
In its investigation, the Commission determined that TikTok ignored important indicators of compulsive use. These include the amount of nighttime use by minors, the frequency of app openings and other potential red flags. The platform’s current measures-screen‑time management tools and parental controls-appear insufficient to mitigate the risks associated with its addictive design.
The Commission is demanding that TikTok fundamentally redesign its service. This entails gradually disabling key features such as infinite scrolling, introducing effective screen‑time breaks that also cover nighttime use, and adjusting the recommendation algorithm. TikTok now has the opportunity to exercise its right to defence and to respond in writing to the provisional findings. If the Commission ultimately confirms its conclusions, it could issue a non‑compliance decision that would carry a fine of up to 6 % of TikTok’s global annual turnover.