The European Commission has formally charged TikTok with failing to protect the mental health of its users, saying the platform's algorithm exposes them to an unrelenting flow of content that risks deepening eating disorders and anxiety. The case, set out in a preliminary ruling issued on Friday, goes to the heart of the Chinese-owned company's business model.
The EU regulator said TikTok's recommendation system "can be harmful" and was steering young and vulnerable users "down rabbit holes they cannot easily escape from". The platform has 189 million users in the European Union.
Investigators found that TikTok did not prevent users from being repeatedly served content on themes such as body image or isolation, which officials said can trigger anxiety and sadness or aggravate existing eating disorders and other mental health conditions. The probe concentrated on legal material, where a single video might be harmless but the cumulative effect of viewing large numbers of similar clips could cause damage.
The commission judged TikTok's safeguards against these so-called rabbit-hole effects to be ineffective. Officials said that when a user tapped the "not interested" button on a video about eating patterns, the algorithm continued to surface similar material on diet and body image. Refreshing the feed, they found, offered only a brief pause before content on the same topic returned.
"Every time a user scrolls or likes a video on TikTok, the algorithm serves more of the same leading users down rabbit holes they cannot easily escape from," said Henna Virkkunen, the commission's lead official on tech policy. "TikTok needs to step up its efforts to protect users' wellbeing, including those of minors." TikTok has been contacted for comment.
EU officials want the company to redesign its ForYou feed so that users have greater control over what they see. "We are addressing a business model," a commission official told reporters, adding that a model centred mainly on engagement "can potentially create a risk", particularly for minors and vulnerable adults.
The findings form part of a wider investigation opened in February 2024 under the Digital Services Act, which requires large internet companies to act against harms ranging from disinformation to mental health damage. The commission has already found that TikTok breached EU rules through "addictive design" features such as infinite scroll. The company said at the time: "The commission's preliminary findings present a categorically false and entirely meritless depiction of our platform", and said it would challenge the findings.
A separate complaint about a lack of transparency over who paid for advertising on TikTok was settled last December when the company made binding commitments to change its policies.
TikTok can now examine the investigation file and mount a defence, and it could agree to modify its recommender system to avoid a penalty. If the commission confirms the finding, the company faces a fine of up to 6% of its global worldwide turnover.
