Wire reporting: (AP, via ClickOrlando), (Reuters, via CNA)

The European Commission said Friday that TikTok’s For You recommendation system may breach the Digital Services Act by repeatedly steering people into loops of videos about sadness, self-harm and body image^1,6.

The findings are preliminary^1,2. TikTok can review the evidence and challenge it before any final decision^1,2. If a violation is confirmed, the company or its owner, ByteDance, could face a fine of up to 6% of global annual turnover^1,4,5.

Commission officials described the case as the first time EU regulators have directly challenged the engagement-based recommender of a major social platform^1,6. Politico Europe said it was the fifth DSA accusation against TikTok this year and that no fine has yet been issued⁶.

Investigators said they focused on videos that were neither illegal nor against TikTok’s rules, including trends such as “what I eat in a day” and “SkinnyTok,” arguing repetition — not a single clip — can be damaging, especially for young or vulnerable users¹. The Record reported that officials said they analyzed about 20,000 videos with psychologists, psychiatrists and system-design experts and obtained internal documents and data¹.

The Commission said TikTok had flagged some of the issues in its own risk assessments but had not analyzed them or set safeguards adequately^1,4. It said tools meant to break loops — including feed refresh, “dispersion” to diversify videos, and “not interested” — were ineffective or faded over time^1,2. A Commission official told Politico Europe that saying “I’m not interested” has to have an effective meaning, not be an afterthought⁶.

Regulators said they want recommendations to weigh what users explicitly choose over implicit signals such as watch time^1,2,4. They also called for more usable controls and regular algorithm testing^4,5.

TikTok did not immediately comment, The Record and AP-affiliated stations reported^1,2. Reuters-carried accounts noted that in February TikTok called earlier DSA findings on addictive design “categorically false” and said it would challenge them^4,5.

The Record said the Commission has already issued two other 2026 preliminary findings against TikTok, on addictive design and minors’ account protections¹. Reuters-carried reports said the Commission is separately looking at similar “rabbit hole” effects on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram^4,5.

Not medical advice.