The European Union formally accused TikTok of allegedly breaching its digital regulations. The concern centres around “addictive design” features that are thought to encourage compulsive usage among children. These preliminary charges challenge the fundamental operating model of the widely used video-sharing application.
Following a comprehensive two-year investigation, EU regulators concluded that TikTok has not adequately assessed the potential risks associated with features such as autoplay and infinite scrolling. Such features may adversely affect the physical and mental health of users, particularly minors and vulnerable adults.
The European Commission, which acts as the EU’s executive authority and enforces the Digital Services Act across the 27-member bloc, has recommended that TikTok make significant changes to the “basic design” of its platform. This extensive legislation requires social media companies to enhance user safety and to better manage their platforms, with substantial fines imposed for non-compliance.
“The Commission’s preliminary findings present a categorically false and entirely meritless depiction of our platform, and we will take whatever steps are necessary to challenge these findings through every means available to us,” the company said in a statement denying the accusations.
TikTok’s features, including infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications, and highly personalised recommender systems, “lead to the compulsive use of the app, especially for our kids, and this poses major risks to their mental health and wellbeing,” Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said at a press briefing in Brussels.
“The measures that TikTok has in place are simply not enough,” he said.
The company has the chance to defend itself against the commission’s findings. Regnier stated that if this is not done correctly, Brussels could issue a non-compliance decision and impose a fine of up to 6% of the company’s annual revenue. No deadline for a final decision has been specified.
These findings reflect growing concerns about youth addiction to social media. Australia has banned social media for those under 16, and countries like Spain, France, Britain, Denmark, Malaysia, and Egypt are considering similar measures. In the US, TikTok recently settled a major lawsuit regarding social media addiction, while Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube still face allegations of harming children.
Regnier noted that TikTok has 170 million users in the EU, most of whom are children. He mentioned that 7% of kids aged 12 to 15 spend 4 to 5 hours a day on the platform, which is the most-used app after midnight among teens aged 13 to 18. “These statistics are extremely alarming,” he said.
The commission stated that TikTok promotes excessive scrolling by continuously delivering new content, which reduces users’ self-control. It noted that the app ignores signs of compulsive use, such as minors spending excessive time on it at night. TikTok has not implemented adequate measures to reduce these risks.
The commission criticised TikTok’s current time management tools as easy to ignore and requiring extra effort from parents. Recommended changes include turning off infinite scrolling, enforcing screen time breaks—especially at night—and altering its recommendation system.
In response, TikTok highlighted tools like customisable screen time limits and sleep reminders to help users manage their time. The platform also offers teen accounts that allow parents to set usage limits and remind their teens to log off in the evenings.
This article used information from The Associated Press.
