TikTok suspends its reward-to-watch feature after EU threats

EU commissioner Thierry Breton had given TikTok 48 hours to respond as he threatened to block the 'addictive' feature

Wed, 24 Apr, 2024 - 21:41

Lisa O'Carroll

A TikTok service offering rewards such as gift vouchers for watching videos has been suspended by the company shortly after the EU threatened to block it amid fears of addiction among children.

On Monday, EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton said the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform had “failed to prove” the feature on TikTok Lite, which launched recently in France and Spain, complied with obligations under sweeping new Digital Service Act (DSA) laws.

He said the EU believed the service could be as “addictive as cigarettes” and gave the company 48 hours to respond with any fresh defence.

🚨We suspect #TikTokLite feature to be toxic & addictive, in particular for children.

Unless TikTok provides compelling proof of safety —which it failed to do until now—we stand ready to trigger #DSA interim measures including the #suspension of the TikTokLite "reward programme" pic.twitter.com/71neLMrkYy
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) April 22, 2024

In a pre-emptive move, TikTok wrote to Mr Breton to say it would suspend the service.

On Wednesday, Mr Breton said:

Our children are not guinea pigs for social media. The DSA ensures the safety of our EU online space.

It is the first non-compliance case taken by the EU since the DSA came into force in August last year.

It is the latest blow to hit the company, after US president Joe Biden signed a bill that will either ban TikTok or force a sale of its US business.

The US president can grant a one-time extension of 90 days, bringing the timeline to sell to one year, if he certifies that there is a path to divestiture and “significant progress” toward executing it.

The administration, and a bipartisan group of US politicians, have called the social media site a growing national security concern.

TikTok said it will make a legal challenge against what it called an “unconstitutional” effort by Congress. In a statement, the company said:

We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail.

“The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep US data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation.

“This ban would devastate seven million businesses and silence 170 million Americans.”

Mr Breton expressed dismay that the company had gone ahead with the service knowing that the European Commission had already raised concerns with TikTok over general safeguarding issues relating to children.

“I take note of TikTok’s decision to suspend the TikTok Lite ‘reward programme’ in the EU, following the opening of our case on 22 April and the communication of our readiness to adopt interim measures,” he said.

“Our cases against TikTok on the risk of addictiveness of the platform continue, including the investigation to establish whether the launch of TikTok Lite was done in compliance with the DSA.

“We suspect that this feature could generate addiction and that TikTok did not do a diligent risk assessment and take effective mitigation measures prior to its launch.”

US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton at the EU-US trade and tech council in Leuven, Belgium, on Friday, April 5. Picture: Johanna Geron/AP

TikTok, owned by the Chinese company Byte Dance, will suspend the ‘task and reward programme’ service in France and Spain for 60 days for new users as of Wednesday.

It will also stop providing the service to existing subscribers by no later than May 1, and pause the rollout in other EU countries.

The suspension of the service is the first example of the EU using the powers under the DSA, which forces social media companies including X and Facebook to comply with EU laws or risk sanctions, which can include bans or fines of up to 6% of global revenues.

A spokesperson for the European Commission confirmed the two formal proceedings into TikTok remained active, including this recent case regarding TikTok Lite.