TikTok Lite: EU closes addictive design case after TikTok pledges not to reinstate rewards mechanism

The European Commission has closed its investigation into the TikTok Lite rewards feature under the Digital Services Act (DSA), accepting the social media giant’s commitment to permanently withdraw the feature within the EU.

TikTok Lite’s “tasks and rewards” mechanism, launched in France and Spain earlier this 12 months, lets users earn points for completing actions within the app, resembling watching and liking videos. These points might be redeemed for Amazon vouchers. TikTok Lite is an alternate, lower-bandwidth version of the TikTok app that the corporate offers in some markets.

TikTok also agreed not to attempt to circumvent its commitment, for instance by launching the identical feature under a distinct name or implementing a version that serves as an equivalent alternative, according to the Commission. While the settlement covers the TikTok Lite rewards mechanism that the EU was investigating, it’s not a blanket ban on TikTok launching any rewards features in the longer term.

When the EU launched an investigation into the rewards feature in April, the Commission raised concerns that the design of the mechanism could negatively impact the mental health of young users since it “stimulates addictive behaviour”.

TikTok temporarily suspended its rewards mechanism within the EU shortly after the Commission opened an investigation. The EU threatened to use temporary powers to disable the feature while it investigated concerns that it encouraged people to spend excessive amounts of time on the app.

Briefing journalists on the situation, a senior Commission official said the enforcement body was pleased with the final result because it had managed to quickly deliver the intended results, ensuring that EU residents, including minors, were protected.

The settlement means the EC has not formally found that TikTok has breached the DSA, so there isn’t a penalty. However, if TikTok fails to honour its commitments, the Commission has stressed that the corporate might be immediately penalised under the DSA, which allows for penalties of up to 6% of world annual turnover without the necessity for a brand new investigation. So TikTok has a reasonably large incentive to comply here.

The Commission said it might monitor TikTok’s compliance with its obligations using existing procedures and powers under the DSA, including through Member State authorities that oversee compliance with the overall principles of the Regulation.

Commenting in an announcement, Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for Internal Market, said: “The available brain time of young Europeans is not the currency of social media – and never will be. We have achieved the permanent withdrawal of the TikTok Lite Rewards programme, which could have had highly addictive consequences. The DSA is in full swing.”

TikTok spokesperson Elliott Burton sent TechCrunch an announcement concerning the settlement: “We always strive to work constructively with the European Commission and other regulators. TikTok is pleased to have reached an amicable resolution and to have withdrawn the TikTok Lite rewards program, which was launched in France and Spain in April and which we had already voluntarily suspended.”

While the TikTok DSA case has now been closed, one other, broader investigation that was announced in February remains to be ongoing.

The case involves TikTok’s core algorithm, amongst other things. The commission said it was concerned that the design of the tracking-based suggestion engine could lead on to “rabbit hole effects,” where users who watch one video on a subject might be advisable more extreme videos, potentially amplifying harmful content, resembling videos promoting eating disorders.

The EU can be concerned that TikTok does not apply sufficiently robust age-based measures to protect children from accessing inappropriate content. TikTok’s compliance with the DSA’s transparency requirements can be under scrutiny.

For more information on how the DSA and its related regulation, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), will impact Big Tech platforms, see our previous reports.