EU urges TikTok to change key feed
The European Commission has made a preliminary finding that what it describes as the 'rabbit-hole effect' of TikTok's recommender system is in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
It said that the social-media platform's ‘For You' feed showed users a continuous stream of personalised videos, "even when those are related to mental-health struggles and body image".
The EU body said that the more a user interacted with a certain type of content, the more TikTok's feed algorithm recommended similar material, adding that such repeated exposure could be harmful when it involved content about sadness, isolation, or body image.
It has called on the platform to change the design of the ‘For You' feed.
"Today's preliminary findings show again that TikTok needs to step up its efforts to protect users’ well-being – including those of minors," said commissioner Henna Virkkunen.
Measures 'not effective'
The commission, in an investigation supported by Ireland's regulator Coimisiún na Meán, found that TikTok did not adequately assess how its recommendation algorithm might lead users into such ‘rabbit holes'.
While TikTok has already implemented measures to mitigate the risk of the 'rabbit-hole effect', the EU body has concluded that these are not effective.
It found that measures to recommend diversified content did not sufficiently reduce how often similar content was recommended, while TikTok's control tools did not effectively enable users to control the content recommended to them.
Viewing time prioritised
It cited as an example the ‘not interested' button, saying that this might not be enough to change the content feed, as the algorithm prioritised showing users content based on viewing time.
The commission stressed that its preliminary findings did not pre-judge the outcome of the investigation, as TikTok can now examine the documents in the investigation files and reply in writing to the EU body.
The EU body had already adopted preliminary findings against the platform under the same proceedings last year and earlier this year.