TikTok removes function from Lite app in the EU due to addiction problems

TikTok has suspended a gamification feature in the European Union following an intervention by the bloc. With attention on TikTok’s growing pile of legal troubles in the US, the announcement went largely unnoticed when it happened late Wednesday local time.

TikTok’s move came just two days after the EU opened an investigation into a so-called “task and reward mechanism” on the TikTok Lite app, raising concerns about an addictive design that could pose a mental health risk to young people forms. This feature allows users to earn points by doing things like watching and liking TikTok videos. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, launched this version of TikTok Lite in France and Spain earlier this month.

Under the EU’s updated rulebook for online governance and content moderation, the Digital Services Act (DSA), TikTok has a legal obligation to mitigate systemic risks in areas such as child safety and mental health. Yet it failed to produce a risk assessment report on this feature when the bloc’s enforcers came knocking.

This is a major problem as the company could face large fines under the DSA – up to 6% of its annual global turnover – if it is found to have broken EU rules.

In a statement posted on X Yesterday, TikTok claimed it was “voluntarily suspending” the rewards feature in the region to address concerns. However, on Monday the Commission indicated it was preparing to force TikTok’s hand, saying it planned to use the interim measures powers contained in the DSA to shut down the app while it investigates performs the function.

The EU gave TikTok two days to present arguments against a forced closure. In that case, TikTok has chosen to avoid enforcement by announcing a “voluntary” suspension.

The development underlines how even the threat of interim enforcement can pack a blow that forces platform giants to reconsider. (We’ve seen this kind of thing before with similar powers set out in the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation, for example – such as a decision by Google in 2019 to stop human review of audio samples captured by its voice AI after a data protection authority informed Google of its intention to order an emergency procedure to stop processing the data.)

This well-known crisis PR tactic aims to get ahead of the negative publicity associated with a forced shutdown by taking action before a formal order.

Nevertheless, the EU takes the win: responding to TikTok’s announcement with a counter message on XThierry Breton, the bloc’s internal market commissioner and internet sheriff, warned: “Our children are not guinea pigs for social media.”

Breton further wrote that he “takes note” of TikTok’s suspension of the Lite app rewards program in the EU, adding: “The cases against TikTok over the platform’s risk of addictiveness continue.”

TikTok was contacted to confirm the status of the TikTok Lite app in France and Spain. As the name suggests, TikTok Lite is an alternative TikTok app for users with older phones or who usually connect to 2G or 3G networks.

The EU has opened two DSA investigations into TikTok: the first, announced in February, is investigating a wide range of suspected non-compliance in areas such as addictive design, child protection, advertising transparency and data access for researchers. The second, announced earlier this week, focuses on TikTok Lite.

Yet Elon Musk-owned X was the first very large online platform to fall under DSA investigation in December, just a few months after the compliance deadline took effect at the end of August. That investigation is also still ongoing.