Brussels, Belgium: The EU said Friday that it had told TikTok it needs to change its "addictive design" or risk heavy fines, after the Chinese-owned platform was found in breach of the bloc's digital content rules.
The European Commission, announcing preliminary conclusions of a probe opened two years ago, said it found TikTok was not taking effective steps to address negative impacts from some of its features, especially for young people and children.
It said TikTok was believed to be "in breach of the Digital Services Act for its addictive design", including through features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and a highly personalised recommender system.
The commission said its probe so far indicated that TikTok did too little to "assess how these addictive features could harm the physical and mental wellbeing of its users, including minors and vulnerable adults".
To address the concerns -- and avoid the risk of hefty fines -- EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen told reporters that "TikTok has to take actions, they have to change the design of their service in Europe to protect our minors and their wellbeing."
