The European Commission fears that the “activities and rewards program” promoted by TikTok Lite – which allows users to earn points by performing certain activities on the social network owned by Chinese Bytedance such as watching videos, liking content, following creators, inviting friends to sign up – was launched “without a prior diligent assessment of the risks it entails, in particular those related to the platform dependency effect, and without taking effective risk mitigation measures”. Risks which, the EU executive warned, are “particularly worrying for children, given the suspected absence of effective age verification mechanisms on TikTok”, a gap already the subject of a first formal proceeding against the Chinese social network opened in February .
Brussels will now carry out its in-depth investigation as a matter of priority. If proven, the platform’s failures to comply would constitute violations of Articles 34 and 35 of the Digital Services Act. Faced with the possible risks, Brussels has announced its intention to suspend the TikTok Lite rewards program in the EU, pending an evaluation of its safety.
Tgcom24
TikTok has until Wednesday 24 April to present arguments in its defense
Before the stop, TikTok has until Wednesday 24 April to present arguments in its defense which the Commission will carefully evaluate.
Last week, the European Commission had already asked the Chinese company to provide a report by April 18 on the risk assessment for TikTok Lite and on the measures put in place to mitigate its impact. However, TikTok has not provided any documents and now has until April 23 to submit the requested information and until May 3 to provide additional details. Without any response within the indicated deadlines, the platform risks running into heavy sanctions.
“We suspect that TikTokLite’s ‘rewards program’ feature is toxic and addictive, particularly for children. Unless TikTok provides convincing evidence of safety, which it has so far failed to do, we stand ready to implement measures provisions, including the suspension of the program”. The EU Commissioner for the Single Market writes it on X, Thierry Bretonafter the announcement of the opening of the investigation by the European Commission against the Chinese platform.
