EU Orders TikTok to Change Addictive Design or Face Heavy Fines Under Digital Services Act

Brussels. The EU on Friday directed TikTok, owned by China, to change its content design to be less 'addictive' or risk heavy fines under the EU's Digital Services Act.

In preliminary findings from an investigation opened two years ago, the European Commission stated that TikTok has not taken effective steps to address the app's negative impact, especially on minors and vulnerable adults.

Citing features such as the promotion of addictive content, automatic broadcasting, promotional information, and highly personalized recommendation systems as causes for concern, Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said, "TikTok's addictive design is a violation of the Digital Services Act."

"These features lead to compulsive use of the application, especially for our children, and this poses a great risk to their mental health and well-being," Regnier said.

He added, "The measures TikTok has adopted are not sufficient."

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement, "TikTok rejects the Commission's findings and they present a clearly false and completely unsubstantiated portrayal of our platform."

"We will take all necessary steps to challenge these findings," he said.

The data structure and 'algorithm' are part of the strong legal arsenal the EU has adopted in recent years to curb the excesses of large tech companies, and officials had previously stated that TikTok was cooperating with the bloc's digital regulators.

He said, "TikTok will now have access to the EU's findings so that it can defend itself against the claims."