EU says TikTok's personalised feed may harm users' mental health

The European Commission has concluded preliminarily, after an investigation, that TikTok's personalised feed can endanger users' mental health, especially vulnerable adults and minors. On that preliminary view, the platform may be in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA).

TikTok can still respond to the findings. If the Commission ultimately establishes a violation, the fine can reach 6% of the company's global annual turnover.

The Commission says the recommendation algorithm behind the "For You" page can keep serving users similar videos. That can be harmful on topics such as low mood, loneliness and body image. Someone who watches videos about losing weight, for example, may be shown more and more of them, because the algorithm reads that viewing as interest.

According to the Commission, TikTok does too little to limit these risks, and users have too little influence over the content recommended to them. It says the platform must change its personalised feed. The DSA requires large online platforms to assess and tackle risks to users, including risks to their mental health.