EU Commission preliminarily finds TikTok's teen default settings violate Digital Services Act

Published Jul 24, 10:03 AM UTC

The European Commission has preliminarily found that TikTok's default account settings for teenagers aged 13 to 18 violate the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA). The investigation, launched in February 2024, revealed that default private mode settings for users aged 13-15 are too easily changed to public, potentially exposing minors to unwanted contact, predatory behavior, and cyberbullying. Additionally, the Commission found that teen accounts are easily identifiable by non-users through profile pictures and follower lists, and that TikTok's recommender algorithms surface minors' content on the 'For You' feed. The Commission demands TikTok expand default private settings to all teen accounts (including 16-18 year olds), prevent content sharing outside the platform, and stop recommending minors' content. TikTok faces a potential fine of up to 6% of its global turnover and has been given an opportunity to respond to the preliminary findings.