The European Commission on Nov. 6 found TikTok in breach of the European Union’s Digital Services Act, saying the company’s recommendation algorithm repeatedly directs users toward potentially harmful videos and that it has failed to adequately address the risks.
TikTok’s “For You” feed recommends videos based on users’ viewing behavior and interactions. Someone who repeatedly watches videos about weight loss, for example, may receive more similar content.
Regulators said in their preliminary findings that such recommendations can draw users into harmful “rabbit holes,” potentially damaging their mental health, particularly among children and vulnerable adults.
The commission said TikTok’s existing safeguards were inadequate. Its “Not Interested” button, intended to limit unwanted recommendations, may not sufficiently change what appears in the feed because the algorithm gives greater weight to viewing time, it said.
Ahead of the published findings, European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told The Epoch Times in an email on Oct. 9 that TikTok needs to change the design of its “For You” feed to meet EU rules for digital services. That includes giving greater weight to users’ stated preferences, no longer using viewing time to recommend content, making controls easier to use, and regularly testing its algorithm, he said.
TikTok has disputed the preliminary findings.
“The Commission has made a series of statements that are fundamentally inaccurate and distort our platform’s architecture and our commitment to user safety,” a spokesperson said in a Nov. 6 statement. The company has a strong record of protecting users while giving them control over their content experience, they stated.
EU Expands Scrutiny of Addictive Design
At a Nov. 6 press briefing in Brussels, Regnier said the investigation focused on TikTok’s repeated recommendations of potentially harmful material—risks the Digital Services Act requires platforms to mitigate.
Under the Act, major online platforms must assess and reduce risks across four broad categories: the spread of illegal content; threats to fundamental rights, including privacy, freedom of expression, and children’s rights; harm to public debate, elections, and public security; and risks involving gender-based violence, public health, minors, and people’s physical or mental well-being.
The findings against TikTok target the company’s alleged use of an algorithm that repeatedly recommends content that potentially harms users’ mental health.
Regnier said that TikTok must change its European business model to comply with EU laws.
Asked whether the EU might seek an ownership arrangement similar to the one established for TikTok in the United States, Regnier said EU obligations would remain the same whether the company operated as a European, American, or Asian entity.
The action follows earlier EU scrutiny. In February, the commission preliminarily found that TikTok features including infinite scrolling, autoplay, and personalized recommendations could encourage compulsive use.
In July, regulators raised separate concerns about protections for minors, including settings that allow videos posted by 16- and 17-year-olds to reach wider audiences.
On Nov. 11, the commission separately proposed a Digital Fairness Act that would strengthen consumer protections against manipulative online practices, including certain addictive design features. The proposal would give consumers options to disable such features. It must be approved by EU lawmakers before becoming law.
The TikTok investigation remains at the preliminary findings stage. Regnier confirmed that the company can review the evidence and exercise its right to defend itself. If the commission ultimately confirms the violations, TikTok could face fines of up to 6 percent of its worldwide annual revenue.
The commission also monitors compliance through companies’ mandatory transparency reports, annual risk assessments, audits, and responses to regulatory information requests, Regnier said.
ByteDance Algorithm and Data Arrangements
TikTok’s recommendation technology originated with its China-based parent company, ByteDance. In the United States, a majority-American-owned joint venture now manages TikTok’s U.S. operations, with Oracle providing data-security infrastructure. A July U.S. Justice Department opinion said the venture had since revised the original ByteDance algorithm and now operated independently of the Chinese company.
Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chairman of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, has questioned whether the U.S. arrangement prevents Chinese influence over the algorithm. In September, he said TikTok withdrew from a planned congressional roundtable where its chief security officer had agreed to answer questions about China’s influence over recommendations and access to Americans’ data.
In Europe, TikTok has committed more than 12 billion euros ($13.4 billion) over 10 years to its data-security initiative called Project Clover. The company hired cybersecurity firm NCC Group to independently monitor data protections and access controls. But those arrangements do not establish who controls changes to TikTok’s European recommendation algorithm.
The Epoch Times asked the European Commission whether it had examined ByteDance’s role in the European recommendation algorithm and whether Project Clover provided oversight of algorithmic operations that is independent of Beijing. Under the Chinese Communist Party, Beijing can force private companies to cooperate with its intelligence and security requests.
The commission did not directly address ByteDance’s role in the European algorithm. Instead, it said that data protection falls outside the scope of its TikTok proceedings and is a matter for the national authorities responsible for enforcing the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
TikTok was separately asked about that role and how its European algorithm governance differs from the U.S. arrangement. The company had not responded to The Epoch Times by publication time.
