European Commission finds TikTok contravened Digital Services Act
An investigation into TikTok by te European Commission has found that video sharing platform’s design is addictive and puts users at risk.
The Commission identified features such as infinite scroll, auto-play, push notifications and the highly personalised recommendation system as being problematic and in breach of the Digital Services Act.
The Commission’s investigation points out that TikTok constantly rewards users with new content. Certain design choices encourage scrolling behaviour and switch users’ brains to ‘autopilot’. Scientific research shows that this can lead to compulsive behaviour and reduced self-control.
The Commission said TikTok’s current user protection measures fall short. Screen time management tools and parental controls do not appear to be effective enough to reduce the risks of the addictive design as users can simply click away the time manager and parents do not intervene.
Examples of measures TikTok has been asked to implement incluse the disabling of addictive features like ‘infinite scroll’, implementing screen time breaks and alterations to the recommendation system.
The Commission’s report does not constitute a ruling and for the moment the social video app is not compelled to make any changes, but the report does send a clear message.
The preliminary findings of this investigation are part of formal proceedings launched by the Commission on 19 February 2024 to investigate TikTok’s compliance with the Digital Services Act.
The meek attitude of social platforms to protect young people has led EU member states to start drafting national legislation to ban socials altogether for young people up to 15-16 years old. Denmark, Spain, the UK and France are the furthest along in this regard.
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