TikTok responds to EU ultimatum on risks of new TikTok Lite app
- Faced with the threat of fines, the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform has provided an assessment report on the app’s rewards-for-views scheme
- The programme allows users to collect points by watching clips and exchange them for things of value, such as Amazon vouchers
A European Commission spokesman confirmed on Tuesday that it had received a reply from TikTok to an order to provide within 24 hours an assessment of mental health risks related to its new app, TikTok Lite.
Monday’s legally binding order concerns the new app’s rewards scheme, which allows users to collect points by watching videos and exchange them for things of value, such as Amazon vouchers, according to commission officials.
The commission wants to know how the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform assessed the addictiveness and mental health risks of the scheme, particularly for children, before launch. The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) requires large platforms to assess and mitigate such risks.
“We can confirm that we received a reply from TikTok,” a commission spokesman said. He said the EU executive will now “assess the response and decide on potential next steps”.
03:10
Protests at US Congress after House passes bill that could potentially ban TikTok nationwide
If the commission decides that TikTok has not provided the information it asked for, it could fine the company 1 per cent of its global annual revenue, plus periodic fines of 5 per cent of its daily revenue.
The commission initially requested the information on April 17, with a non-binding deadline the following day.