Brussels – A design that is too ‘user-friendly’, a practice that can lead to addiction, and for this reason, the European Commission is targeting TikTok. According to the EU executive, the well-known social media platform violates the Digital Services Act due to its design, which creates a “toxic” relationship with the service. Specifically, it criticises features such as infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications, and its highly personalised recommendation system.
It is the opinion of the European Commission that TikTok has not “adequately” assessed how these addictive features could harm the physical and mental well-being of its users, including minors and vulnerable adults. An example of this is the “reward” given to users with new content, or TikTok’s design features that fuel the urge to keep scrolling and put users’ brains into “autopilot mode.”
“Social media addiction can have detrimental effects on the developing minds of children and teens,” says the Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen. “In Europe, we enforce our legislation to protect our children and our citizens online,” she added. This is the reason for the investigation into the allegations, which TikTok may appeal. However, the Commission remains convinced of its choices, partly because, as explained to the company, scientific research “shows” that conduct such as that contested in Brussels “may lead to compulsive behaviour and reduce users’ self-control.”
According to the Commission, another element also demonstrates the harmfulness of social media and its functions. TikTok “disregarded” indicators of compulsive use, such as the time minors spend on TikTok at night or the frequency with which users open the app. In short, “TikTok seems to fail to implement reasonable, proportionate and effective measures to mitigate risks stemming from its addictive design.“
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
