European Union Ultimatum TikTok: Change the Design that is Considered Addictive or You Will Be Fined a Giant

European Union Commissioner for Technology Affairs, Henna Virkkunen (photo: x @HennaVirkkunen)

JAKARTA - The European Union has issued a stern warning to TikTok regarding the design of its application which is considered addictive and harmful to the mental health of users, especially children and adolescents. If it does not immediately make changes, the Chinese company's short video platform is threatened with a large fine under the Digital Services Act (DSA) rules.

In the initial conclusions of the investigation opened two years ago, the European Commission stated that TikTok failed to take effective steps to reduce the negative impact of its main features. Features such as infinite scroll, auto play, push notifications, and highly personalized recommendation systems are said to encourage excessive and compulsive use.

European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier confirmed that TikTok's addictive design violated the DSA provisions. According to him, these features make it difficult for users, especially children, to stop using the application and are at high risk to their mental health and well-being. He assessed that the mitigation measures implemented by TikTok so far have not been adequate.

TikTok immediately denied the findings. The company said the European Commission's conclusions were a completely false and unfounded portrayal. TikTok confirmed that it would pursue all available avenues to challenge the results of the investigation.

In the United States, a number of allies of US President Donald Trump in Congress also criticized the EU's move. They assessed the European Commission's actions as punitive and used as an excuse to limit freedom of expression and put pressure on technology companies.

The European Commissioner for Technology Affairs, Henna Virkkunen, confirmed that TikTok must change the design of its service in Europe to protect children. He called user safety, especially the young age group, a top priority for regulators.

The European Commission proposed a number of concrete changes, including limiting or disabling infinite scrolling, implementing effective usage timeouts, especially at night, and adjusting the recommendation system so that it does not continue to encourage excessive content consumption.

This investigation is the first case opened against TikTok under the Digital Services Act, a new EU regulation designed to curb the excessive practices of large technology companies. In its presentation, the European Commission said the data on TikTok's use among teenagers was very worrying.

According to the regulator, TikTok is the most frequently used platform by teenagers aged 13 to 18 after midnight. Around 7 percent of children aged 12 to 15 years old are recorded to spend four to five hours per day on the app. TikTok is also accused of ignoring important indicators of compulsive use, especially the duration of children's use at night.

The European Commission assessed that the time management and parental control features provided by TikTok are too easy to ignore by young users. In addition, the parental control settings are considered complicated and require additional effort from parents.

This case comes amid a trend of a number of European countries that are beginning to consider restricting access to social media for teenagers. However, the European Union insists that its main approach is to make platforms safe from the design stage, without having to rely on overly high age restrictions.

If the European Commission's findings are confirmed, TikTok risks being fined up to 6 percent of its total annual global turnover. In addition, the EU is still investigating TikTok in a separate case regarding alleged foreign interference in the Romanian presidential election at the end of 2024.

However, the European Commission said TikTok was quite cooperative in the other investigation. The regulator said it would continue to monitor the platform's behavior during the election process in various European countries.