EU says TikTok’s For You feed breaks the DSA and can cost 6% of turnover

The European Commission said on 6 November 2026 that the TikTok For You feed likely breaches the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU law for large online platforms. In its preliminary findings, the Commission says TikTok did not properly assess how the feed pulls people into “rabbit holes” of similar videos. If the findings are confirmed, the fine can reach 6% of TikTok’s global yearly turnover.

Brussels says TikTok reads watch time as interest

The feed treats watching and liking as signs of interest and then shows more of the same. According to the Commission, repeated videos about weight loss or body image can hurt users’ wellbeing. Minors and vulnerable adults are most at risk.

The Commission also says TikTok’s fixes so far have not worked. Its efforts to mix in different content do not cut similar recommendations enough. The “not interested” button may not change what people see.

Henna Virkkunen lists four changes for TikTok

The Commission suggests TikTok should rely more on what users say they want, stop using viewing time as a ranking signal, make feed controls easier to find and test its algorithm regularly. Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen said TikTok “needs to step up its efforts”.

TikTok can now read the case file and reply in writing. The European Board for Digital Services will also be consulted. A TikTok spokesperson told AFP the findings are “fundamentally inaccurate” and distort how the platform works.

Fourth preliminary finding against TikTok in 13 months

The same case has already produced findings on researcher data access in October 2025, on addictive design in February 2026 and on minors’ safety in July 2026. TikTok closed a separate ad transparency issue with binding commitments in December 2025. TikTok has said it has 189 million EU users, so any forced change to the feed would reach a large share of the bloc.

The EU is also moving on age limits. The proposed KIDS Act would bar under-13s from social media.

Brands may see less organic reach from similar videos

If TikTok has to stop counting watch time, the feed would lean more on follows and stated interests. Videos that win mainly because people keep watching could get fewer free views. Brands that post on TikTok in the EU can check today how much of their reach comes from the For You page compared with followers. That figure is in TikTok’s analytics, under each video’s traffic sources.