The Commission’s preliminary findings target the visibility of teenage accounts, specifically calling for an end to public-by-default settings. Regulators want content posted by minors restricted to their chosen connections, effectively removing their videos from the platform’s algorithmic 'For You' feed. Current loopholes, such as the ability to discover private accounts through following lists or view profile photos globally, remain a primary point of contention.
EU Presses TikTok to Automate Child Safety Defaults
The European Commission has signaled a crackdown on TikTok, warning that current protections for minors are insufficient under the Digital Services Act. Officials argue that safety cannot be an opt-in feature, demanding that the platform shift its design to ensure children are shielded by default rather than by choice.
EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen emphasized that design-based protection is a core requirement of the Digital Services Act. Failure to resolve these vulnerabilities could result in financial penalties reaching 6 percent of TikTok’s global annual revenue. This regulatory pressure mirrors recent moves by the UK’s Ofcom, which launched a parallel investigation into the platform’s child safety protocols last week. Beyond these immediate privacy concerns, the EU continues to investigate the addictive nature of TikTok’s recommender systems, keeping the platform under intense scrutiny.
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