The European Commission has ruled that TikTok’s design features, most notably its infinite scroll, encourage compulsive use and fail to adequately protect users, especially children and teenagers, putting the platform at risk of heavy financial penalties.
In preliminary findings released Friday, the Commission said TikTok may be in breach of the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), warning that the company could face fines of up to 6 per cent of its parent company ByteDance’s global annual turnover if it fails to make significant changes to how its app operates.
The ruling comes amid intensifying global scrutiny of social media platforms over excessive screen time and the psychological impact of addictive design patterns on young users.
According to the European Commission, TikTok relies heavily on addictive design features such as infinite scroll, which continuously feeds users new content and places their attention on what regulators described as “autopilot.”
The Commission said these features promote compulsive behaviour, including repeated app openings and prolonged scrolling sessions, while exposing users to risks that TikTok has not sufficiently addressed.
“Social media addiction can have detrimental effects on the developing minds of children and teens,” said Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy.
She stressed that under the Digital Services Act, large platforms are legally responsible for the societal and psychological effects of their products, adding that the EU is determined to enforce its laws to protect citizens online.
The investigation into TikTok began in 2024, following concerns that the platform was not adequately managing systemic risks as required under the DSA. Regulators reviewed TikTok’s internal risk assessments, company data, and scientific research related to behavioural addiction.
The Commission said its findings reflect growing concern among regulators worldwide that social media companies are not doing enough to curb addictive design, particularly for minors.
In October, the Commission had already flagged TikTok and Meta for allegedly restricting researchers’ access to public platform data, another potential violation of the DSA’s transparency requirements.
Regulators also raised red flags about TikTok’s Daily Screen Time feature. Although a one-hour usage limit is automatically applied to users aged 13 to 17, the Commission said the warnings are ineffective because they are easy to dismiss.
Similarly, TikTok’s Family Pairing parental control system, which allows parents to monitor activity, manage screen time, and restrict content, was criticised for being overly complex and time-consuming to set up, reducing its real-world effectiveness.
Based on its assessment, the Commission concluded that TikTok would need to fundamentally redesign key aspects of its service to comply with EU law. Proposed remedies include limiting or disabling infinite scroll, enforcing stronger screen-time breaks, and changing how content is recommended to users.
TikTok rejected the Commission’s preliminary findings, calling them “categorically false and entirely meritless.” The company said it would challenge the conclusions through all available legal channels.
TikTok argued that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to screen time regulation and insisted it already provides users with multiple tools to manage their usage.
TikTok is not alone in facing tough EU enforcement. Meta’s platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, have paid billions of euros in fines under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for data protection breaches, including violations involving children’s privacy.
Other platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), have also come under scrutiny for failing to meet EU transparency and data-access requirements.
The EU has widened its regulatory net by designating platforms such as WhatsApp as Very Large Online Platforms under the DSA, subjecting them to stricter obligations around risk management, illegal content, and user protection.
With this latest move against TikTok, Brussels has signalled that addictive design is no longer a grey area, but a regulatory red line.
