The European Fee has closed a Digital Providers Act (DSA) investigation of a rewards function in TikTok Lite by accepting commitments from the social media big to completely withdraw the function from the EU.
The TikTok Lite “activity and reward” mechanism, launched in France and Spain earlier this 12 months, lets customers earn factors for doing in-app actions like watching and liking movies. These factors might be exchanged for Amazon vouchers. TikTok Lite is another, lower-bandwidth model of TikTok’s app that the corporate presents in some markets.
TikTok has additionally agreed to not attempt to circumvent its dedication, corresponding to by launching the identical function below a unique identify or deploying a model that serves as an equal various, based on the Fee. Though the settlement applies to the TikTok Lite reward mechanism the EU was investigating, it’s not a blanket ban on TikTok launching any rewards options sooner or later.
When the EU opened a probe of the rewards function again in April, the Fee stated it was anxious the design of the mechanism would possibly negatively impression the psychological well being of younger customers by “stimulating addictive habits.”
TikTok had quickly suspended the rewards mechanism within the EU quickly after the Fee launched its investigation. The EU had threatened to make use of interim powers to close down the function whereas it investigated issues that it was encouraging folks to spend extreme quantities of time on the app.
Briefing journalists on background, a senior Fee official stated the enforcer is proud of the end result because it has delivered a fast outcome that permits EU residents, together with minors, to be protected.
The settlement does imply the EC has not formally discovered TikTok to be in breach of the DSA, so there’s no penalty. Nevertheless, if TikTok fails to maintain to its commitments, the Fee emphasised that the corporate might be sanctioned instantly below the DSA, which permits for fines of as much as 6% of worldwide annual turnover with out the necessity for a recent investigation. So TikTok has a fairly large compliance incentive right here.
The Fee stated it might monitor TikTok’s compliance to its commitments utilizing present processes and DSA powers, together with with the assistance of Member State-level authorities that oversee compliance with the regulation’s common guidelines.
Commenting in a press release, Thierry Breton, the EU’s inner market commissioner, stated: “The out there mind time of younger Europeans is just not a foreign money for social media — and it by no means might be. We’ve obtained the everlasting withdrawal of TikTok Lite Rewards programme, which might have had very addictive penalties. The DSA is in full swing.”
TikTok spokesperson Elliott Burton despatched TechCrunch a press release in regards to the settlement: “We at all times search to have interaction constructively with the European Fee and different regulators. TikTok is happy to have reached an amicable decision and has now withdrawn the TikTok Lite rewards programme which was launched in France and Spain in April, which we had already voluntarily suspended.”
Whereas this TikTok DSA case is now closed, one other, extra wide-ranging investigation introduced again in February remains to be ongoing.
That case issues the principle TikTok app’s algorithm, amongst different areas. The Fee has stated it’s anxious the design of the tracking-based recommender engine could result in “rabbit gap results,” the place customers who view one video on a subject could be advisable extra excessive movies that would result in an amplification of dangerous content material, corresponding to movies selling consuming problems.
The EU can also be involved TikTok is just not utilizing strong sufficient age-assurance measures to guard children from accessing inappropriate content material. TikTok’s compliance with DSA transparency necessities are additionally being investigated.
For extra on how the DSA and its sister regulation, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), are impacting Massive Tech platforms, try our earlier reporting.
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