{"id":461011,"date":"2026-07-24T13:26:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T11:26:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/07\/24\/lue-contro-tiktok-sulla-sicurezza-degli-account-dei-minori-rischi-di-contatti-indesiderati\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T15:03:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T13:03:35","slug":"eu-challenges-tiktok-over-the-safety-of-minors-accounts-risks-of-unwanted-contact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/07\/24\/eu-challenges-tiktok-over-the-safety-of-minors-accounts-risks-of-unwanted-contact\/","title":{"rendered":"EU challenges TikTok over the safety of minors\u2019 accounts: “Risks of unwanted contact”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 Is the current way TikTok accounts operate safe for minors? According to the European Commission, not entirely. In particular, the Commission believes that TikTok\u2019s settings and certain features expose underage users of the social media platform to risks, \u201cincluding unwanted contact, cyberbullying or predatory behaviour,\u201d and that it does not meet the safety standards set out in the Digital Services Act<\/a> (DSA). Today\u2019s conclusions<\/a> (24 July)  are based on the preliminary findings of the investigation into the Chinese social media platform. <\/p>\n

During today\u2019s daily press briefing, the European Commission spokesperson, Thomas Regnier<\/strong>, clarified that there are some positive aspects to the platform\u2019s settings. \u201cTikTok has default settings for minors\u2019 accounts with a clear distinction: Younger children, aged 13 to 15, have a private account by default,\u201d while older children \u201caged 16 to 17 can choose between a private or public account,” he explained. However, the spokesperson reiterated that these are merely steps \u201cin the right direction, but not effective enough\u201d because \u201cyounger children, that is, those aged 13 to 15, can easily change the default settings of their TikTok profile from private to public.\u201d The Commission cannot accept this because \u201cat that age, privacy must be maintained.\u201d <\/strong>Furthermore, \u201colder minors, aged 16 to 17, who choose to have a public account can be seen by anyone on the internet\u201d and the Commission \u201cdoes not accept this.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cMinors deserve a safe experience from the moment they go online,” said the Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen<\/strong>. “The Digital Services Act requires platforms to build protections for minors into the design of their services, and holds them to account when they fail to do so\u201d. For these reasons, \u201cA high level of protection should not be an opt-in; it should be the default.<\/strong>\u201d <\/p>\n

When minors set up a public account on TikTok, any user \u2013 including those without an account \u2013 can view their content. This setting would also allow content posted by 16- and 17-year-olds to be recommended to other users via the platform\u2019s \u2018For You\u2019 section. The Commission believes that such exposure could lead to \u201cunwanted contact from potential predators,\u201d as well as the risk of the content being used for cyberbullying. In this context, the EU executive added that the \u2018For You\u2019 section potentially offers strangers \u201ca window into a child\u2019s life.\u201d <\/strong>And since content posted by a minor remains online forever, right up to adulthood, “the feature comes with risks of potentially lifelong consequences.\u201d The situation is no better if a child has a private account: their profile could easily be found via other users\u2019 \u2018Following\u2019 and \u2018Followers\u2019 lists, and their profile picture remains visible to anyone, including users without a TikTok account. <\/p>\n

The Commission concludes that the settings of the Chinese app continue to expose children to ongoing risks, including unwanted contact, cyberbullying, and predatory behaviour. The DSA, on the other hand, stipulates that platforms accessed by children must ensure a high level of privacy, security and protection for their services. The Commission has therefore taken the preliminary view that \u201cTikTok\u2019s account settings fail to meet this standard, as they expose minors’ accounts and content too widely.\u201d<\/strong> <\/p>\n

In line with the guidelines on child protection<\/a>, Brussels has drawn three preliminary conclusions: the app should \u201cshould adjust the default settings of minors’ \u2018public’ accounts,” so that their content is, by default, visible only to TikTok users whom the minor has accepted; although \u201colder minors\u201d \u2013 16- and 17-year-olds \u2013 may have the option to share their content with a broader audience on TikTok, the content should under no circumstances be accessible to a global audience outside the platform; the Chinese platform should refrain from recommending minors’ content to other TikTok users through the For You Feed. These preliminary conclusions, however, do not prejudge the final outcome of the investigation. <\/p>\n

TikTok will be able to examine the documents in the Commission’s investigation files and respond in writing to the Commission’s preliminary conclusions. At the same time, the European Board for Digital Services \u2013 an independent advisory group comprising national digital services coordinators and chaired by the European Commission, established to ensure the uniform application of the DSA \u2013 will be consulted. If the Commission’s views are ultimately confirmed, the Commission may issue a non-compliance decision, which can trigger a fine determined by the nature, gravity, recurrence, and duration of the infringement. <\/strong>The amount of the fine must be proportionate and will in no case exceed 6 per cent of a provider’s global annual turnover.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Chinese tech giant has responded. \u201cOn TikTok, young people\u2019s accounts come with over 50 pre-set privacy and safety features from the moment they are created,\u201d said a spokesperson for the platform. \u201cProtecting children online is a goal we share, and we remain committed to continuously improving the measures we take to protect them<\/strong>. We will examine these preliminary findings and continue to engage constructively with the Commission,\u201d the spokesperson added. <\/p>\n

The European Commission\u2019s preliminary conclusions today form part of an investigation<\/a> the Commission launched on 19 February 2024 to verify that TikTok complies with the DSA. They are the result of an analysis that includes a review of TikTok\u2019s interface, its internal data and documents, and interviews with law enforcement officials and experts in child protection, child abuse, and neuropsychology. The Commission has drawn on the guidelines on child protection to assess whether the app complies with its obligation to ensure a high level of privacy, safety, and protection for children. The investigation also covered the app\u2019s \u2018potentially addictive\u2019 design, with respect to which preliminary conclusions<\/a> were reached in February this year. The Commission also investigated researchers\u2019 access to public data \u2013 for which preliminary conclusions were adopted<\/a> in October 2025 \u2013 and advertising transparency, which was addressed through “binding commitments”<\/a> in December 2025. The investigation also focuses on the so-called \u2018rabbit hole\u2019 effect of TikTok\u2019s recommendation systems and the risk that minors may be exposed to content unsuitable for their age if they provide a false age. The investigation into these issues is still ongoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The European Commission has sent a preliminary report to the Chinese tech giant, urging it to change the settings on its accounts. Vice-President Virkkunen: \u201cA high level of protection should not be an opt-in; it should be the default.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7908,"featured_media":460944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25710],"tags":[25871,25815,33773,26940,35049,35050,34798,31338,31235],"class_list":["post-461011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-net-tech-en","tag-app","tag-law-on-digital-services-en","tag-feed","tag-linee-guida-minori-online","tag-minori-online","tag-tutela-dei-minori-online-en","tag-tik-tok-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461011"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":461012,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461011\/revisions\/461012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}