TikTok has been told by Brussels to clean up its feed or get hit with massive fines, X-style. The European Union said the way the app keeps users stuck on their screens might break the new Digital Services Act, which holds big online companies responsible for any harm their platform design might cause.
The European Commission said TikTok hasn’t done enough to spot or fix the risks tied to its setup. The app keeps users scrolling by dropping new videos one after another.
Officials said this tricks the brain into staying on the app for way too long without thinking. They believe this kind of design is bad for both the body and mind. And they’re especially worried about teenagers and younger children.
Brussels says TikTok’s setup may hurt kids’ mental health
Henna Virkkunen, the EU’s top tech official, said, “Social media addiction can have detrimental effects on the developing minds of children and teens. In Europe, we enforce our legislation to protect our children and our citizens online.”
She warned that platforms need to stop ignoring the way their features affect people. If the warning sticks, TikTok could be fined up to 6% of its global revenue, which could reach billions.
This is one of the first big cases under the new law, and the EU is not playing around. Officials said these features were made to keep people scrolling, not to keep them safe.
This isn’t TikTok’s first run-in with European watchdogs. Last year, regulators in Ireland fined the company €530 million for sending user data to China. Brussels has also looked into how TikTok runs its ads and who sees what.
The company, owned by ByteDance in China, now has more problems in the United States too. A recent deal with the Trump administration will split TikTok’s US branch into a new company that will mostly be owned by American investors.
That new setup is supposed to handle security for user data and the algorithm, but ByteDance will still run most of the business parts like e-commerce, ads, and marketing.
TikTok isn’t just being watched by Europe. Other countries are stepping in too. Spain announced this week that no one under 16 will be allowed to use social media at all.
France and the UK are thinking about doing the same. And Australia already passed a rule in December, banning kids under 16 from creating accounts for 10 major apps.
That list includes TikTok, which fired back, saying, “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.”
