The European Commission today issued a preliminary finding that TikTok breached the Digital Services Act through recommendations that can repeatedly draw users into potentially harmful videos about mental health and body image. Its concerns center on the For You feed, where personalised recommendations can keep returning users to similar material as they interact with a particular kind of video. The Commission identified vulnerable adults and minors as especially at risk from the potential mental health consequences of that repeated exposure.
The finding concerns what the Commission describes as a “rabbit hole effect,” in which engagement with one type of content prompts TikTok’s recommendation algorithm to serve more of the same. For users interacting with videos connected to mental health struggles, that mechanism can produce an ongoing succession of recommendations related to those struggles. The Commission’s assessment links the potential harm to the combination of repetition and continuing exposure within a feed of personalised videos.
The examples identified by the Commission include videos concerning sadness and isolation, alongside material focused on body image. It warned that continually encountering content on those subjects can have a detrimental effect on a user’s mental health, with particular concern for people who are vulnerable and for minors. The regulator’s objection therefore reaches beyond a single recommended video to the way a user’s interactions influence the videos subsequently presented in the For You feed.
The preliminary finding covers two aspects of TikTok’s obligations: its assessment of risks and the measures intended to mitigate them.
