The European Commission has formally charged social media app TikTok with breaching EU online content rules, alleging the platform’s design promotes addictive behaviour and that the company did not sufficiently address associated risks. The preliminary findings, the result of a year-long investigation under the Digital Services Act (DSA), signal that TikTok may be ordered to change the core design of its service in Europe or face a penalty of up to 6% of owner ByteDance’s global turnover.
The regulator’s case focuses on specific product features and the platform’s recommender system. The Commission highlights elements such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications and a highly personalised algorithm as central to what it characterises as an addictive design. Regulators said TikTok’s continuous generation of new content serves to constantly reward users, fueling the urge to keep scrolling and shifting users into an autopilot mode.
According to the Commission, TikTok did not carry out an adequate assessment of how these features could affect the physical and mental wellbeing of users, with particular concern for children and vulnerable adults. The EU watchdog pointed to certain metrics it says TikTok overlooked or disregarded when evaluating compulsive use - including the amount of time minors spend on the app at night and the frequency with which users open the app.
The findings also allege that TikTok appears to have failed to implement reasonable, proportionate and effective measures to reduce these risks. The Commission cited the absence or insufficiency of tools such as screentime management features and parental controls, concluding the company needs to alter the basic design of its service to mitigate harm.
Henna Virkkunen, the EU’s tech policy chief, told reporters that the Commission expects TikTok to act following the publication of the preliminary findings. "So now we are expecting after that, when we are publishing these preliminary findings, that Tiktok has to take actions and they have to change the design of their service in Europe to protect our miners," she said. Virkkunen added that inquiries into other online platforms are progressing and that decisions regarding those probes are anticipated in the coming weeks and months, although she did not name any companies.
TikTok has strongly rejected the charges. A spokesperson for the company said: "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 regulatory process allows TikTok to request access to the Commission’s documents and to submit a written response before any final decision is made. The preliminary stage does not itself determine liability, but it sets out the regulator’s concerns and potential remedies.
Separately, the company reached a settlement last year concerning an alleged breach of a DSA obligation to publish an advertisement repository. Regulators had said the repository was intended to enable researchers and users to identify scam advertisements; the company settled those charges.
This development underscores the Commission’s enforcement of the DSA and illustrates how platform design, user engagement metrics and safety measures are now being examined in regulatory reviews. The outcome of this case could require design changes of the TikTok app in Europe and may influence how other large online platforms are assessed under EU rules.