The EU Just Charged TikTok Over the 'Rabbit Hole' Effect of Its For You Feed

EU regulators have charged TikTok with breaching the bloc's online content rules over the "rabbit hole" effect of its For You feed, the system that keeps serving users a constant stream of similar videos.

The European Commission, which acts as the EU's tech regulator, said it issued the charges — known as preliminary findings — after TikTok failed to put in place proportionate, reasonable and effective measures to address the risks of its recommender system.

TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance risks a fine next year of up to 6% of its global annual turnover unless it can resolve the issue, the regulators said.

The charges fall under the EU's Digital Services Act, which requires large online platforms to do more to tackle harmful and illegal content. The case is part of a broader EU investigation into TikTok that began in February 2024, and it is the first time the bloc has cited a recommender system itself as a breach of the rules.

The Commission's concern is the way the For You feed works. Every time a user scrolls or likes a video, the algorithm serves more of the same, steering people into narrow streams of similar content they cannot easily escape from. Regulators said repeated exposure to content about sadness, isolation or body image can worsen users' mental health, especially for children, and cited Amnesty International research reporting cases of teenagers pushed toward self-harm material.

"Every time a user scrolls or likes a video on TikTok, the algorithm serves more of the same, leading users down rabbit holes they cannot easily escape from," said Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission's executive vice president for tech sovereignty.

The Commission identified specific fixes it wants TikTok to make: give more weight to users' explicit preferences, stop using viewing time as a recommendation signal, make content controls easier to find and use, and run regular independent tests of the algorithm.

The findings are preliminary, not a final decision, and no fine has been imposed. TikTok can now review the Commission's evidence and propose remedies. If regulators uphold the finding and TikTok's responses fall short, the fine could follow next year.

The Commission had already found in February that TikTok violated EU rules over the "addictive design" of features such as infinite scroll, saying the company did not adequately assess how those features could harm the physical and mental well-being of users, including minors and vulnerable adults.

TikTok says its policies prohibit content that promotes disordered eating and risky weight-management behaviour, and that more than 79 million users in the EU used its "not interested" or keyword filters to screen out unwanted content in the first six months of 2026. The Molly Rose Foundation, set up in memory of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who took her own life in 2017 after being exposed to a torrent of harmful online content, welcomed what it called the landmark findings.

Sources

• The Express Tribune (Reuters) — EU charges TikTok over harmful algorithmic 'rabbit hole' effects
• SRN News (Reuters) — EU charges TikTok over harmful algorithmic 'rabbit hole' effects