After EU warning
Tiktok is suspending the functionality of the app version for the time being
The Brussels authority announced at the beginning of the week that it wanted to examine whether the company was endangering the mental health of minors and violating EU rules with reward functions in TikTok Lite. photo
© Kiichiro Sato/AP/dpa
There has been a rift between the EU Commission and the short video portal Tiktok for a long time. Now the company is showing concessions on at least one point of contention.
After the EU Commission launched another procedure against Tiktok has opened, the online platform is temporarily suspending criticized functions of the app version TikTok Lite. “TikTok is always committed to working constructively with the EU Commission and other regulatory authorities,” the Chinese company announced on X on Wednesday. “Therefore, we are voluntarily suspending the rewards functions in TikTok Lite while we address the concerns they have raised.”
The “Lite” version of the app was launched in Europe in April in France and Spain. The Brussels authorities announced on Monday that they wanted to examine whether the company was endangering the mental health of minors and violating EU rules. People are particularly concerned about the task and reward program. This allows users to collect points when they complete certain tasks – such as watching videos or liking content. This can be addictive and is particularly worrying for children, as it is not clear that the age of users is being effectively verified.
The Commission had given Tiktok 48 hours to prove that it had complied with EU rules and that no serious harm was caused. The authority could then have instructed the platform to suspend the new functions for the time being. Tiktok has now forestalled this.