European Commission opens fifth case against TikTok over 'rabbit holes'
The EU's preliminary findings say TikTok's recommender systems may breach the Digital Services Act and risk users' mental health.
The European Commission has opened a fifth formal case against TikTok, accusing the platform of designing recommendation algorithms that draw users into so-called "rabbit holes."
In preliminary findings the Commission says this is the first time it has concluded that a social network's recommender systems amount to a breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA). Under the DSA, companies can face fines of up to six percent of their global annual turnover.
Investigation focused on mental health effects
The inquiry concentrated on how TikTok's systems affect users' mental health, where the evidence was strongest. The Commission found that increased user interaction with certain material — even if potentially harmful — leads to more recommendations of similar content, and judged the countermeasures TikTok introduced to be ineffective.
According to the Commission, TikTok failed adequately to take into account the risk of drawing users into "rabbit holes" through a "continuous stream of personalised videos — even when the content relates to mental health issues or concerns about one's appearance."
This is the fifth case the EU executive has brought against the China-owned platform; so far, no financial penalty has been imposed on TikTok in these proceedings.
Photo: press material from the event
