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 users aged 13 to 18 fail to comply with the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA). The investigation, launched in February 2024, identified that while TikTok applies a private mode to accounts of users aged 13-15 by default, this setting is very easy to change, potentially exposing minors to unwanted contact, predatory behavior, or cyberbullying. Additionally, the Commission found that teen accounts can be easily identified by non-users through profile pictures and follower lists, and that TikTok's recommender algorithms often surface teen content on the 'For You' feed. The Commission demands TikTok expand default private settings to all teen accounts (including 16-18 year olds), stop recommending minors' content externally, and prevent content from being accessible outside the platform. 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.