The European Commission is no longer only going after TikTok's addictive design. It is going after the recommendation engine itself. On Friday it announced the preliminary findings of a proceeding open since February 2024: the "For You" feed system operated by ByteDance is not compatible with the Digital Services Act. A fine of up to six percent of global annual turnover is now on the table.
"Every time a user scrolls or likes a video on TikTok, the algorithm offers up similar content and leads users into a rabbit hole they cannot easily escape," said Commission Vice-President Henna Virkkunen. That is not a side note; it is a description of the product. The more-of-the-same effect is what separates TikTok from a video site.
The legal case hangs on a duty of care. The DSA requires large platforms to identify and mitigate systemic risks, not merely to document them. The Commission argues that ByteDance's recommendations generate risks rather than address them, because user signals such as how long a video is watched are fed into the ranking largely unfiltered. The language is sharpest where the algorithm acts as an amplifier for content that may harm health.
What is notable is the framing. As one of the most widely used platforms in the EU, TikTok is under the Commission's direct supervision; the Irish regulator Coimisiún na Meán, responsible for its European seat, took part in the findings. And a senior EU official made clear on Friday morning that this is not about one product: "We are going after a business model that can create risks. That is what we want to change — and not only at TikTok."
The timetable is staged. ByteDance can now respond to the preliminary findings. If the Commission then stands by its assessment, it can impose a fine; that too would be appealable. The decision would close out a proceeding that already has a history: in February 2026 the Commission issued preliminary findings against TikTok's addictive design, including infinite scroll and autoplay. That was about mechanisms that keep users on the app. This is about which content they are kept there with.
For users, nothing changes this week. Over time, more is at stake than ranking orders. If the Commission's approach holds, TikTok would have to demonstrate that its recommendations mitigate risk — a showing that no toggle can produce, and one that applies to every algorithmic feed, not just this one. The planned EU Kids Act, still some way off, would shift the frame further; the DSA proceeding itself is not limited to minors.
For ByteDance this is the most serious regulatory attack yet on the core product. Six percent of global turnover is one number; the other is an order to change the recommendation system in a way it can prove. Whether the Commission carries both through depends on the company's answer in the coming weeks.
