The European Commission charged TikTok on 6 November 2026 with breaching the Digital Services Act over the “rabbit hole” effect of its recommender system. Regulators said the For You feed continuously serves similar personalized videos based on prior interactions, including content about sadness, isolation, or body image. This design can harm mental health, especially for minors and vulnerable adults. EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen stated that every scroll or like leads users deeper into content they cannot easily escape. The Commission found TikTok failed to implement effective mitigation measures and ordered changes to the algorithm, greater weight on explicit user preferences, better controls, and regular testing. ByteDance faces a potential fine of up to 6% of global annual turnover. The action forms part of a wider probe that earlier targeted addictive design features.
The European Commission charged TikTok on 6 November 2026 with breaching the Digital Services Act over the “rabbit hole” effect of its recommender system. Regulators said the For You feed continuously serves similar personalized videos based on prior interactions, including content about sadness, isolation, or body image. This design can harm mental health, especially for minors and vulnerable adults. EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen stated that every scroll or like leads users deeper into content they cannot easily escape. The Commission found TikTok failed to implement effective mitigation measures and ordered changes to the algorithm, greater weight on explicit user preferences, better controls, and regular testing. ByteDance faces a potential fine of up to 6% of global annual turnover. The action forms part of a wider probe that earlier targeted addictive design features.