The EU Commission says TikTok’s ‘rabbit hole’ effect can pose harm to users.
The EU Commission says TikTok’s ‘rabbit hole’ effect can pose harm to users.
The European Commission claims TikTok broke its online platform rules by offering a recommendation algorithm that creates a “rabbit hole effect” on users. In an announcement on Friday, the regulators allege TikTok’s algorithm can harm users with “endless and repeated exposure” to content related to sadness, isolation, or body image.
The findings come months after the EU Commission declared that TikTok’s design is too “addictive.” While TikTok has implemented controls to mitigate the algorithm’s “rabbit hole effect,” the Commission says its preliminary findings suggest that they’re not effective. TikTok must now change the design of its For You feed, or else face fines of up to 6 percent of its global annual turnover. The platform is also facing pressure in the US, with lawmakers and a wave of lawsuits raising concerns about child safety.
Since enacting the Digital Services Act in 2023 — a set of rules that hold tech companies legally accountable for their impact on users— the EU Commission has targeted several companies for allegedly violating the regulations, including X, Meta, Temu, and AliExpress. As reported by Politico, this is the first time the Commission has cited a recommendation algorithm as the reason for a breach.
“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,” Henna Virkkunen, the EU Commission’s executive vice president of tech sovereignty, security, and democracy, says in the press release. “Today’s preliminary findings show again that TikTok needs to step up its efforts to protect users’ well-being, including those of minors.”
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