The European Commission said today that TikTok is facing a fine because its addictive features, including infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and personalized recommendation systems, are breaching the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
According to preliminary findings, TikTok has failed to adequately assess how these features could harm users’ physical and mental well-being, including minors and vulnerable adults.
The commission found that TikTok fuels the users’ urge to keep scrolling and shifts their brains into “autopilot mode” by constantly rewarding users with new content, potentially reducing self-control and leading to compulsive behavior.
TikTok has also disregarded important indicators of compulsive use, including the time minors spend on the app at night and how frequently users open it, the commission added.
If the findings are confirmed, the violations could trigger a fine of up to 6% of TikTok’s global annual turnover. To avoid being fined for violating the EU’s digital regulations, the commission said TikTok needs to change its core service design by implementing screen time breaks, adapting its recommendation system, and disabling key addictive features.
“Social media addiction can have detrimental effects on the developing minds of children and teens, said EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen on Friday.
“The Digital Services Act makes platforms responsible for the effects they can have on their users. In Europe, we enforce our legislation to protect our children and our citizens online.”
The commission added that while TikTok has some mitigation measures, such as parental controls and screen-time management tools, these are likely ineffective because they are easy to dismiss and require parents to enable them manually.
In November, French prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into TikTok, accusing it of failing to safeguard the mental health of children.
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) fined TikTok €530 million (over $601 million) in May 2025 for illegally transferring the personal data of users in the European Economic Area (EEA) to China, in violation of the EU’s GDPR data protection regulations.
Two years earlier, the Irish watchdog slapped TikTok with a €345 million ($368 million) fine for violating children’s privacy by processing their data and employing “dark patterns” during registration and video posting.
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