EU Charges TikTok Over ‘Rabbit Hole’ Algorithm
The EU charges TikTok with breaching the bloc’s online content rules, telling the platform to fix the “rabbit hole” effect of its For You feed.
The European Commission acted after finding that TikTok’s recommender system keeps users watching similar videos. TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance risks a fine of up to 6 per cent of its global annual turnover next year unless it resolves the issue.
Social media companies face growing pressure to change their algorithms amid concern that the platforms are feeding a mental health crisis among children.
EU charges TikTok: what the regulator found in the For You feed
The European Commission, which acts as the EU tech regulator, issued charges known as preliminary findings to TikTok. It acted after the company failed to put in place proportionate, reasonable and effective measures to deal with the risks.
“The more a user interacts with a certain type of content, the more TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed algorithm recommends similar content. This design can be harmful when such endless and repeated exposure involves, for example, content about sadness, isolation or body image,” the European Commission said.
“Every time a user scrolls or likes a video on TikTok, the algorithm serves more of the same, leading users down rabbit holes they cannot easily escape from,” EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said in a statement.
“Today’s preliminary findings show again that TikTok needs to step up its efforts to protect users’ well-being, including those of minors,” she said.
TikTok rejected the accusations. “The commission has made a series of statements that are fundamentally inaccurate and distort our platform’s architecture and our commitment to user safety,” the company said in a statement.
“We have a strong record of protecting our community while giving users direct and intuitive control over their content experience.”
The EU said TikTok did not “adequately assess” how its algorithm put users’ wellbeing at risk. It warned that repeated exposure could lead to “increased feelings of sadness or anxiety, body dissatisfaction, lower self-esteem, or worsening of existing eating disorders”.
The changes Brussels wants from TikTok
The Commission said TikTok needs to change its business model in Europe. The platform should redesign its For You feed algorithm, rely more on users’ explicit preferences, make user controls easier to find and use, and test its algorithm regularly.
Even when users tell TikTok they do not like certain content, the platform keeps suggesting similar videos. TikTok has made some tweaks to reduce the risks, but the EU said they were not effective and demanded more radical design changes.
The Commission gave examples of what it expects. TikTok should rely more on explicit preferences, because the EU found that the app’s “not interested” button “may not be enough to change the content feed”. It should stop using viewing time as a signal to recommend content and make controls easier to reach.
The latest charges are part of a broader EU investigation into TikTok under the Digital Services Act. EU regulators charged TikTok in February over addictive designs and inadequate efforts to protect children; TikTok called those findings “categorically false”.
Why the case reaches beyond TikTok
The Commission is separately investigating similar “rabbit hole” effects in Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Instagram recommendation systems. Brussels told Meta in July to change the “addictive design” of Facebook and Instagram in an investigation started under the same law.
Brussels also plans to ban children under 13 from social media, with only limited, supervised access until the age of 15.
TikTok and Meta face similar scrutiny in the United States, where court claims have been lodged over the dangers the platforms pose to young people. TikTok avoided a trial in September after agreeing to pay Alabama at least $100 million and to bring in time limits and other restrictions for teenage users.
The debate matters in Pakistan too, where TikTok has a huge audience. The PTA moved against a fake TikTok ban notification that circulated online, while the Lahore High Court has questioned police over TikTok videos about missing girls. Platforms have also faced pressure over fake orders, as X showed when a police order demanding account removals turned out to be fake.
What has the EU charged TikTok with?
The European Commission found TikTok breached EU online content rules because its For You feed traps users in a “rabbit hole” of similar videos.
What fine could TikTok face?
ByteDance risks a fine of up to 6 per cent of its global annual turnover next year.
What changes does the EU want?
TikTok should redesign its For You feed, rely more on explicit preferences, make controls easier to use, stop using viewing time to recommend content, and test its algorithm regularly.
How did TikTok respond?
TikTok rejected the accusations as “fundamentally inaccurate”.
