EU tells TikTok to change ‘harmful’ For You feed

The European Commission has issued preliminary findings that TikTok’s personalised “For You” feed may breach the Digital Services Act, saying its recommendations can draw users into harmful “rabbit holes”. The case matters because the EU says repeated exposure to videos on topics such as sadness, isolation and body image could affect mental health, particularly for children and vulnerable adults.

The Commission says TikTok’s algorithm recommends more of the same kind of content as users interact with it, and that its existing safeguards have not been effective enough. It wants TikTok to give greater weight to users’ stated preferences, make controls easier to use, reduce reliance on viewing time when recommending videos, and test the algorithm regularly. TikTok disputes the findings, calling them inaccurate; the Commission’s conclusions are preliminary, and the company could face significant fines if found to breach the rules.