We've preliminary found that TikTok is in breach of the DSA for its addictive design.
There are important indicators of compulsive use of the app that TikTok has disregarded in its risk assessment.
Key features of the addictive design:
🔹Infinite scroll
🔹Autoplay
🔹Push notifications
🔹Highly personalised recommender system
We consider that TikTok needs to change the basic design of its service.
TikTok can now exercise its right to examine and reply to the finding.
@EUCommission
A giant leap for the EU, one small step for mankind.
Vs the original.
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" by Niel Armstrong.
@EUCommission YouTube Shorts shpuld be the next target.
I hate opening one interesting short video, ended wasting 30 minutes of mindless scrolling.
@EUCommission dont forget about #youtube Shorts and #instagram Reels…
@EUCommission I applaud further scrutiny of TikTok, but the basis is iffy. https://ec.social-network.europa.eu/public/local also implements infinite scroll 😅
Simply excellent conclusion… rolling out these sociological experiments untested for profit should simply be stopped. Rules and regulations is what we need.
@EUCommission Leibe EU Kommision. Könnt ihr bitte was dagegen unternehmen das die Wirtschaft Druck auf die Politik ausüben. So was tut man nicht, das ist Nötigung .
ban Insta, TikTok and Youtube Shorts.
I can't come up with any good reasons we should let a foreign company have this level of control of europeans minds, specially youth.
And it's not about "free speech", this we get with a mastodon for example.
This is about giving the power to direct attention to whatever a foreign entity wants and thus control of public opinion.
@EUCommission, financial fines are not enough. If a company is allowed to still operate in EU while just paying fines and being sued, it may just accept it as a business cost.
Instead, when company fails to comply with our laws, it must stop operations in EU. They have chance to comply, even several. If they are not capable of using them, they are threat to Europe and must be dealt as such.
@EUCommission
#Mastodon also has those design features!
@EUCommission preliminarily*
Anyway wonderful news!
@EUCommission other platforms are same. reddit,instagram,x all are designned to keep user as long as possible
@EUCommission Those same indicators of addictive design are present when it comes to Youtube, Facebook and Insta as well. Why aren't fines being issued in that case? Just so you don't anger Trump? The DSA should be applied to every platform, american ones are not an exception!!
@EUCommission Based on those wordings, I don't see the difference to Instagram, Facebook or Snap.
@EUCommission right move, only first three listed aspects are misleading, because practically every application with a news feed does the same thing. The recommender system and ignoring the parental controls on the other hand are plausible.
@EUCommission Errr... Mastodon has infinite scroll!
@EUCommission facebook, instagram and x also have this addictive features in their design… 🙄 I guess that you apply the same logic as in sanctioning Russia but not Israel (their worse crimes do not bother you the least).
@EUCommission So all social media, including Mastodon, should be banned too?
@EUCommission you're all fucking retarded
@EUCommission STOP THE CENSORSHIP AND THE SPYING ON US
@EUCommission 6% only? why not 10? make it a fine that's worthwhile the ensuing law suits!
@EUCommission I think that most apps fall in this same category. Not only social networks but even newspapers.
@EUCommission - What an App to lose brain cells.
"Kids between 12 and 15 spend 4 to 5 hours daily on Tiktok."
140 million users in the European Union alone.
Tiktok sure is an abomination but one must ask as well why parents and grandparents are so busy that they can't properly engage with their own kids. The cost of living crisis made of Tiktok a convenient child minder. Same with Youtube, on that regard.
@EUCommission Great, now give them a fine that really hurts.
Hello @hans! First, TikTok now as the right to a written defence. After this, if a breach of the DSA is established, a fine can indeed be a consequence.
In a recent example, the company X was fined €120 million for breaching transparency obligations, including deceptive design practices and lack of transparency in its advertising repository.
You can learn more about how enforcement proceedings work here: https://link.europa.eu/3kC9Vg
@EUCommission @hans 120 million for Twitter is like 10 cents for anyone in these comments. Fines for violations like these should come in entire pieces of yearly profits
@EUCommission Enough with international double standards, Instagram and TikTok are equally addictive, they just have different age groups. Enforce changes on both or none. Is there similar action towards Instagram?
Congrats though, it's a step towards the right path 💫 and setting an example for other countries 🌍
@EUCommission
Isn,t youtube the same?
@EUCommission @stux, well, when I check, even #Loops have infinite scroll and autoplay 🤔 As a free software and decentralized application, still better than TikTok, but done similar issues are there also 😕
@EUCommission listen to this guy @stux
@stux @EUCommission I don't think we need short-video platforms at all
The purpose of the very idea of a short video platform is to be addictive and detrimental to attention spans.
Ban TikTok , X and META!
That is not the only problem. Consider this :
@EUCommission I can't help the feeling the EU is finally waking up and prepared to throw its weight around.
Hi there, @grob!
The DSA has been in force since November 2022, and fully applicable since February 2024. Since then we have launched many investigations, made companies comply to our rules, and fined some.
You can find a comprehensive overview of other companies we are supervising here: https://link.europa.eu/ngkJPH
@EUCommission 💪 keep it up! Rule of law is what I'm here for 🇪🇺
But please do not make client side scanning in any way part of that law. It is so dangerous! Imagine an autocracy had that kind of access to its citizens' data and thought.
@EUCommission Please save us some taxpayer Euros and ban the blasted thing!
@EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu So how would this work with Loops? As that has infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications (coming soon), and there for you page is only getting better.
Does this mean Loops is at high risk too?
@sam @EUCommission I'm guessing they only look at platforms once they grow large enough, there are such limits for reporting requirements at least.
That said, I think it could make sense to eventually implement features that prevent people from becoming too addicted to Loops too.
The current Loops algo and the content the platform has probably isn't as finely tuned to be extremely addictive and there's no reason to make it be though.
@ikuturso @sam @EUCommission your guess is correct. most of the DSA applies only to platforms >45 million monthly active users: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Services_Act#Designation_of_VLOPs_and_VLOSEs So if the fediverse, including loops, actually stays federated, meaning not too many people use the same instance (or different instances run by the same operator), its structure makes it inherently exempt.
@EUCommission Thank you. Next up: Insta.
Hello @axeln, META also falls under the category of "Very Large Online Platforms", which we supervise.
You can find an overview of all ongoing investigations for all these large companies here:
https://link.europa.eu/ngkJPH
