Manny Ita –
The European Commission issued preliminary findings on Friday stating that TikTok’s platform design violates the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) by failing to protect users from addictive features. Regulators specifically cited “infinite scroll”—the mechanism that continuously feeds new content to users—as a primary concern, alleging that such features place users’ brains on “autopilot” and encourage compulsive behavior. The Commission further concluded that the social media platform appears unable to implement adequate safeguards to mitigate the psychological risks posed to its audience, particularly children and teenagers.
Henna Virkkunen, European Commission Executive Vice-President for tech sovereignty, security, and democracy, emphasized the legal obligations of tech firms following the announcement. “Social media addiction can have detrimental effects on the developing minds of children and teens,” Virkkunen said on Friday. “The Digital Services Act makes platforms responsible for the effects they can have on their users. In Europe, we enforce our legislation to protect our children and our citizens online.”
The investigation took particular issue with the efficacy of TikTok’s existing safety tools, including its “Daily Screen Time” notification. While the app automatically sets a one-hour limit for users aged 13 to 17, regulators dismissed the safeguard as ineffective, noting that the warnings are “easy to dismiss.” Similarly, the “Family Pairing” tool was criticized for requiring “additional time and skills from parents,” which the Commission argued limits its success. To reach compliance with the DSA, the Commission stated that TikTok must “change the basic design of its service,” suggesting the disabling of infinite scroll, the implementation of more effective screen time breaks, and modifications to recommendation algorithms.
TikTok has rejected the findings, characterizing the Commission’s assessment as inaccurate. In an email to Euronews Next, the company stated that the preliminary findings “present a categorically false and entirely meritless depiction of our platform,” adding that they “will take whatever steps are necessary to challenge these findings through every means available to us.” The platform maintained that there is no expert consensus on a “one-size-fits-all” approach to screen time regulation and highlighted its existing well-being features, such as sleep hour prompts and reward-based “well-being missions.”
The ongoing probe, which began in 2024, has utilized internal risk assessments and scientific research on behavioral addiction to evaluate the company’s compliance. While no fines have been imposed at this preliminary stage, the case could eventually result in a non-compliance decision and a fine of up to 6 percent of TikTok’s global annual turnover. TikTok now has the opportunity to review the findings and submit a formal written response, including proposed solutions, before the Commission consults the European Board for Digital Services for a final determination.
