The European Commission has issued preliminary findings that TikTok failed to protect users’ mental health. It says the platform’s recommendation algorithm “can be harmful” and draws young and vulnerable users into narrow streams of repetitive content that are difficult to leave. The case targets the engagement-driven model behind a platform with 189 million users in the EU, The Guardian reported.
What the commission found
The Chinese-owned short-video platform was found to have failed to stop users from being repeatedly served content on themes such as body image and isolation. According to the commission, this kind of content can lead to anxiety and sadness and can worsen existing eating disorders or mental health problems.
Officials said the investigation focused on legal content. A single video on a given theme may not be problematic in itself, but the cumulative effect of watching large numbers of similar videos can damage users’ mental health.
Safeguards found to be ineffective
The commission concluded that TikTok’s measures against “rabbit-hole effects”, where users are served narrow, repetitive content to keep them engaged, were not effective.
Officials gave the example of a user who selects the “not interested” button on a video about eating patterns. The algorithm still went on to recommend similar content on diet and body image. Refreshing the feed gave only a short break from content on a single topic, the findings state.
Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s lead official on tech policy, said: “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.”
“TikTok needs to step up its efforts to protect users’ wellbeing, including those of minors,” she added.
The commission’s position on the business model
EU officials want TikTok to change the design of its For You feed so that users have greater control over the content they see.
“We are addressing a business model,” a commission official told reporters. The official said a model focused mainly on engagement “can potentially create a risk”, especially for minors and vulnerable adults.
TikTok’s response
A TikTok spokesperson rejected the findings. “The commission has made a series of statements that are fundamentally inaccurate and distort our platform’s architecture and our commitment to user safety,” the spokesperson said.
“We have a strong record of protecting our community while giving users direct and intuitive control over their content experience.”
The company says its policies prohibit content that promotes disordered eating and risky weight-management behaviours. It also says 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.
Reaction from child safety campaigners
The UK-based Molly Rose Foundation welcomed the findings, describing them as landmark. The foundation was set up in memory of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who took her own life in 2017 after being exposed to large volumes of harmful online content. It said the findings sought “to hold TikTok to account for the way their algorithm drives young people down rabbit holes of despair”.
A survey carried out for the charity earlier this year found that nearly half of girls and a third of all UK teenagers had seen suicide, self-harm and eating-disorder content on social media within a week.
The foundation has called on the UK regulator, Ofcom, to open its own investigation into what it described as TikTok’s “extremely damaging” algorithm.
The wider Digital Services Act investigation
The findings are part of a broader investigation launched in February 2024 under the Digital Services Act. The act requires large internet companies to take action against a wide range of harms, from disinformation to damage to mental health.
The commission has already found that TikTok breached EU rules over its “addictive design”, including features such as infinite scroll. At the time, the company said those preliminary findings presented “a categorically false and entirely meritless depiction of our platform” and said it would challenge them.
A separate complaint about the lack of transparency over who paid for advertising on TikTok was resolved when the company made binding commitments to change its policies in December 2025.
What happens next
TikTok can now examine the investigation file and respond to the findings. It could also agree to change its recommender system to avoid a penalty.
If the commission confirms its findings, TikTok could be fined up to 6% of its global annual turnover.
With information from The Guardian
