'Writing is on the wall' for social media firms after investigation found TikTok's 'addictive design' breaches EU law

'By constantly rewarding users with new content, certain design features of TikTok fuel the urge to keep scrolling and shift the brain of users into autopilot mode, the European Commission said.

The “writing is on the wall” for social media firms and the design of their platforms, Irish advocates have said, after the European Commission told TikTok its “addictive” features breach the law and risk multi-million-euro fines.

On Friday, the European Commission in preliminary findings of its investigation into Tiktok said such was its concern over the popular video-sharing platform it “needs to change the basic design of its service”, citing the impacts of endlessly scrolling, its push notifications and its recommender systems.

“[Our preliminary findings] indicate TikTok did not adequately assess how these addictive features could harm the physical and mental wellbeing of its users, including minors and vulnerable adults,” it said.

“For example, by constantly ‘rewarding' users with new content, certain design features of TikTok fuel the urge to keep scrolling and shift the brain of users into ‘autopilot mode'. Scientific research shows that this may lead to compulsive behaviour and reduce users' self-control.” 

It said the current tools used by TikTok fail to bring about reasonable, proportionate or effective measures to mitigate the risks, and said it should disable “infinite scrolling” and bring in effective “screen time breaks”.

If TikTok does not comply, the investigation could culminate in fines of up to 6% of the company’s global turnover under the Digital Services Act, it said.

In a sharp rebuke to the commission’s view, a TikTok spokesperson said: “The commission's preliminary findings present a categorically false and entirely meritless depiction of our platform, and we will take whatever steps are necessary to challenge these findings through every means available to us.” 

The move from the European Commission comes against the backdrop of other probes into big tech firms, as well as countries considering social media bans for under-16s. In December, the European Commission fined X €120m for breaches of its Digital Services Act, provoking fury from its owner Elon Musk and criticism from the Trump administration.

And, in the wake of the X and AI tool Grok undressing controversy, advocates in Ireland have welcomed this new step from the European Commission to rein in the social media firms.

Niamh McLoughlin, online safety programme coordinator at Barnardos, said it reinforced the point that children’s wellbeing needed to be at the centre of how platforms were designed.

“Today’s announcement is a welcome reminder that platform design plays a role in shaping those experiences, and children’s best interests must guide all decisions and policies affecting their online lives,” she said.

The Ombudsman for Children’s Office said companies should take a child rights by design approach to ensure children could use them without putting their mental health at risk.

“We would hope to see steps taken by TikTok to remove any features that might cause risk,” it said. “Children’s rights apply online just as they do offline.” 

Alex Cooney, chief executive of CyberSafeKids, said this was the first time a social media company had been “properly called out” on its “addictive” design features.

“Time will tell if they choose to use their vast wealth to fight this ruling, as they've done with the Data Protection Commission's investigations,” she said.

“Shame on them if they do. The writing's on the wall for engagement-at-all-costs design. It's harmful, it's unacceptable, and it must change. In the meantime, children pay the price.”