EU Tells TikTok: Fix ‘Harmful’ For You Feed or Face 6% FineTechnology

According to the Commission, the more a user interacts with a certain type of content, the more the For You feed recommends similar videos. The regulator warned that this endless and repeated exposure can be harmful when it involves content about sadness, isolation or body image, and that children and vulnerable people are most at risk.

The Commission said TikTok had put some measures in place, such as a not interested button, but found them ineffective at reducing how often harmful content is recommended. It said the platform needs to change the design of the feed, including giving more weight to users’ explicit preferences, stopping the use of viewing time as an indicator for recommending content, and making user controls more accessible and easier to use.

TikTok rejected the findings. The company said the Commission’s conclusions were fundamentally inaccurate and distorted its platform’s architecture and its commitment to user safety. TikTok will now have the chance to examine the Commission’s investigation file and reply in writing before any final decision is taken.

The findings are preliminary and do not prejudge the outcome. The European Board for Digital Services is being consulted in parallel, and if the Commission confirms its views, it could adopt a formal non-compliance decision carrying a fine of up to 6 percent of the provider’s total worldwide annual turnover.

Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, said the regulator had preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the Digital Services Act for the rabbit-hole effect of its recommender system. She said every interaction with a video can cause the algorithm to recommend more of the same, drawing users into sequences that are difficult to escape.

The case is part of a wider investigation into TikTok that the Commission opened in February 2024, which has already produced earlier preliminary findings on other aspects of the platform. It is the first case under the Digital Services Act to focus directly on the design of a recommendation system, and it is being watched closely across the technology industry.

The Digital Services Act is the EU’s wide-ranging rulebook for large online platforms, requiring them to do more to tackle harmful and illegal content and to protect users, particularly children. Regulators have stepped up enforcement in recent years, opening investigations into several of the world’s biggest platforms.

For TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, the case adds to regulatory pressure in Europe. The company says it has invested heavily in safety features, but the Commission’s message is that design choices themselves, not just individual pieces of content, can breach the rules when they systematically expose users to harm.