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The European Union on Friday demanded that TikTok overhaul the “harmful” way its personalized For You feed, a stream of videos tailored to each user, is designed, or face hefty penalties under the EU’s digital content rules.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said the recommendation system exposes children and vulnerable people to potentially damaging material by serving videos similar to those a user has already engaged with. It accused TikTok of breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA, the EU law regulating online platforms) through a “harmful ‘rabbit holes’ effect.”
“The more a user interacts with a certain type of content, the more TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed algorithm recommends similar content,” the European Commission said, adding that the design can be harmful when exposure involves content about sadness, isolation or body image.
Even when users say they don’t like certain content, the algorithm keeps suggesting similar videos. The EU said TikTok’s changes so far were not effective and demanded more radical design changes.
To curb algorithmic manipulation, the commission recommended strengthening user controls, disabling watch time as a recommendation metric, and relying more on explicit user preferences, noting that current options like the “not interested” button fail to meaningfully adjust feeds.
The recommendations follow a February directive from the European Union targeting "addictive design" features and a July investigation accusing TikTok of exposing minors to cyberbullying and predatory behavior.
Under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU has launched formal probes into major global platforms and is considering measures to ban children under 13 from social media while restricting access for users under 15.
A senior EU official said the February findings focused on features like notifications, whereas Friday’s view targets the algorithm itself, admitting the EU was going after TikTok’s engagement-based business model.
TikTok can now access the EU’s files and defend itself. If the regulator’s views are confirmed, the Commission can impose a fine of up to 6% of the company’s total worldwide annual turnover (revenue).
In its preliminary findings, the EU said TikTok did not “adequately assess” how its algorithm put users’ wellbeing at risk, warning that repeated exposure could lead to “increased feelings of sadness or anxiety, body dissatisfaction, lower self-esteem, or worsening of existing eating disorders”.
The EU also told Meta in July to change the “addictive design” of Facebook and Instagram. Both companies face similar scrutiny worldwide, especially in the United States. TikTok in September avoided a trial after agreeing to pay Alabama at least $100 million and enact time limits and other restrictions for teen users.
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