TikTok, the EU: "Feed 'For You' violates the Digital Services Act regulation"

Red flag from the European Commission against TikTok. In fact, the Commission preliminarily believes that the platform violates the digital services act (the DSA is the device that regulates the sector) due to the so-called "rabbit hole" effect of its recommendation system. The Chinese platform's "For You" feed shows users a continuous stream of personalized videos, including those addressing mental health or body image difficulties (the feed is the continuously updated list of content). The more a user interacts with a certain type of content, the more the algorithm of TikTok's "For you" feed proposes similar ones, says Brussels according to which “this structure can be harmful when such exposure, incessant and repeated, concerns, for example, contents linked to sadness, isolation or body image.

The mechanism

These "rabbit holes" can have a negative impact on the mental health of users, particularly vulnerable adults and minors. If this preliminary assessment is confirmed, the Commission could adopt a non-compliance decision, which may result in a financial penalty proportionate to the nature, severity, recurrence and duration of the violation, up to a maximum of 6% of the supplier's total annual worldwide turnover. It is the first time that the Commission has put a social media platform under fire for the "rabbit hole" effect, which easily sucks the user into an endless spiral of content.

In-depth analysis

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