EU charges TikTok with failing to protect users’ mental health
The European Commission said on Friday that TikTok's algorithm leads young and vulnerable users "down rabbit holes" of harmful content. If the finding stands, TikTok could be fined up to 6% of its global turnover.
The European Commission has charged TikTok with failing to protect its users' mental health, The Guardian reported. In a preliminary ruling on Friday, the EU regulator said the platform's algorithm "can be harmful". It said the algorithm feeds users a steady stream of content that can worsen eating disorders and anxiety. The Chinese-owned short-video platform has 189 million users in the EU. Officials found that TikTok failed to stop users from being served repetitive content on themes such as body image or isolation. The probe focused on legal content. Officials said a single video might not be a problem, but watching dozens on one theme could damage mental health. The Commission found that TikTok's safeguards against these "rabbit-hole effects" did not work. Officials said a user who clicked "not interested" on a video about eating patterns would still see similar content on diet and body image. Refreshing the feed brought only a short break from the same topic. Henna Virkkunen, the Commission's lead official on tech policy, said every scroll or like makes the algorithm serve "more of the same". She said TikTok must do more to protect users' wellbeing, including that of minors. A Commission official told reporters that the case targets…
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