EU regulators have accused TikTok of breaching online safety rules by using design features that could expose children to cyberbullying, predators and other harm. The preliminary findings under the Digital Services Act could lead to a major fine and underline the EU’s push to make child protection a built-in feature of large platforms.

The European Commission said children can make accounts public and that even private accounts may be easily found through followers and following lists. It wants minors’ content to be visible by default only to approved TikTok users; TikTok says under-18 accounts are already private by default and include more than 50 safety and privacy features. The case is the fourth DSA allegation against TikTok in two years, and any final penalty could reach 6% of its global annual turnover.