The European Commission on Friday issued preliminary findings stating that account settings for minors on popular short-video sharing app TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance Ltd, fail to meet safety standards required under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The Commission found that minors on TikTok can set their accounts to public, allowing any user—including those without TikTok accounts—to view their content. Content from older minors aged 16 to 17 may be recommended to other users through the For You Feed.
This exposure creates risks of unwanted contact from potential perpetrators, cyberbullying, and life-long consequences, as published content may remain online indefinitely.
Under the DSA, platforms accessible to minors must ensure a high level of privacy, safety, and security on their service.
The Commission noted that even private accounts present safety concerns. Minors’ profiles can be easily located through followers and following lists, and profile photos remain accessible to anyone, including non-account users.
Account settings are critical for online safety as they determine content visibility and contact capabilities. The Commission preliminarily determined that TikTok’s settings fail to meet DSA requirements by exposing minors’ accounts and content too widely.
The Commission recommended that TikTok adjust default settings for minors’ public accounts so content is visible only to accepted TikTok users. While older minors could retain options to share content more broadly on TikTok, it should not be accessible to global audiences outside the platform. TikTok should also stop recommending minors’ content through the For You Feed.
These preliminary findings do not determine the investigation’s final outcome. TikTok can review Commission investigation documents and submit written responses. The European Board for Digital Services will also be consulted in parallel.
If the Commission’s preliminary findings are confirmed, it may issue a non-compliance decision resulting in fines based on the infringement’s nature, gravity, recurrence, and duration. Fines must be proportionate and cannot exceed 6% of a provider’s global annual turnover.
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