European Commission opens proceedings against TikTok under the DSA regarding the launch of TikTok Lite in France and Spain, and communicates its intention to suspend the reward programme in the EU
Today, the Commission has opened a second formal proceedings against TikTok under the Digital Services Act (DSA). Today’s opening is to assess whether the company may have breached the DSA when launching TikTok Lite in France and Spain. Under the DSA, designated Very Large Online Platforms are obliged to submit a risk assessment report, including measures to mitigate any potential systemic risks, prior to launching any new functionalities that are likely to have a critical impact on their systemic risks.
The Commission is concerned that the “Task and Reward Program” of TikTok Lite, which allows users to earn points while performing certain “tasks” on TikTok – such as watching videos, liking content, following creators, inviting friends to join TikTok, etc. – has been launched without prior diligent assessment of the risks it entails, in particular those related to the addictive effect of the platforms, and without taking effective risk mitigating measures. This is of particular concern for children, given the suspected absence of effective age verification mechanisms on TikTok. The lack of effective age verification mechanisms and the suspected addictive design of the platforms are already under investigation in the first formal proceedings against TikTok.
