BRUSSELS 

The European Commission preliminarily found on Friday that TikTok was in breach of the bloc's Digital Services Act (DSA) due to its addictive design, warning features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and highly personalised recommender systems pose serious risks, particularly to minors.

The commission's investigation indicates that TikTok did not adequately assess the impact of these features on the physical and mental wellbeing of users, including vulnerable adults, according to a statement.

Certain design elements, the commission said, encourage compulsive behaviour by constantly "rewarding" users with new content, shifting their usage into a so-called "autopilot mode."

At this stage, the EU is calling on TikTok to change the basic design of its service, including disabling addictive features such as infinite scroll, implementing effective screen time breaks and adapting its recommender system.

European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters in Brussels that data shows TikTok is the most used platform after midnight among children aged 13 to 18 in the bloc, with 7% of children between 12 and 15 spending four to five hours daily on the app.

"These (TikTok's) features lead to the compulsive use of the app, especially for our kids, and this poses major risks to their mental health and well-being," he said.

TikTok has the right to respond to the preliminary findings, and the European Board for Digital Services will also be consulted. If non-compliance is confirmed, a fine of up to 6% of TikTok’s total global annual turnover could be imposed.

Snapchat also on the radar

Asked about a video depicting former US President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys, shared on Friday by President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account, Regnier said: "(It) feels good to feel safe at home in Europe. This is precisely why we have a regulation in place. So racism, hate speech, illegal content, has no place online."

"But again, let me just add one point on this, because it's very important ... We're not looking at individual content from a DSA point of view. This can be done by a criminal investigations not in our remit," he added.

He noted that the EU would not hesitate to enforce its legislation, including against US-based platforms. "We're not shying away from taking action with American platforms, if need be," Regnier said.

Regnier also confirmed that Snapchat is on the radar.

"We have sent a request for information already to them. It was more relating to the selling of illegal products to our kids, vapes, for example, alcohol, etc," he said, adding that the commission is monitoring multiple platforms under the DSA.