The European Commission charged TikTok on Friday. It says the platform breaches the EU's online content rules through the "rabbit hole" effect of its recommender system, which feeds users a constant stream of similar videos.
The Commission calls the charges preliminary findings. It says TikTok failed to implement proportionate, reasonable and effective mitigation measures. The charges fall under the Digital Services Act.
The exposure is a fine. TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance risks a fine next year of up to 6% of its global annual turnover unless it can resolve the issue.
The Commission wants design changes. It says TikTok needs to change the design of its 'For You' feed algorithm. It also wants more reliance on users' explicit preferences, easier user controls and regular algorithm testing.
EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said: "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."
This is not the first round. Regulators charged TikTok in February over addictive designs, inadequate child protection and limits on researcher data access. TikTok said at the time that those findings were "categorically false" and that it would take steps to challenge them. The article shows no TikTok response to Friday's charges.
Meta is also in the queue. The Commission is separately investigating rabbit hole effects in Facebook and Instagram recommendation systems.
The filing cycle continues.