The EU declares TikTok's 'infinite scroll' and 'highly personalised recommender system' are 'addictive design in breach of the Digital Services Act'

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It's become something of a meme to think of social media as a digital skinner box, but is that enough to warrant action against it? The European Commission seems to think so, as it announced that ubiquitous short form video app TikTok is "in breach of the Digital Services Act for its addictive design," in a February 5 press release.

The release states: "The Commission's investigation preliminarily indicates that TikTok did not adequately assess how these addictive features could harm the physical and mental wellbeing of its users, including minors and vulnerable adults … by constantly ‘rewarding' users with new content, certain design features of TikTok fuel the urge to keep scrolling and shift the brain of users into ‘autopilot mode'."

This is just a preliminary investigation by the commission, though, and TikTok was offered the opportunity to change its ways or "reply in writing" and defend itself before any lasting decisions come of this. But the Commission will also consult the European Board for Digital Services, and "if the Commission's views are ultimately confirmed," TikTok may incur a fine "up to but not more than 6% of [parent company ByteDance's] total worldwide annual turnover." Given that ByteDance just surpassed Meta in quarterly revenue last year, that's a pretty penny.

In fact, it may be a while before any changes come of this. The EU hit X with a €120 million fine last year for "deceptive design practices" and other regulation breaches, which Elon Musk called "insane." I don't know if you've been on X lately, but fines aside, it's not exactly had a come-to-Jesus moment. How TikTok will or won't change in response to this wave of scrutiny is yet to be seen, but perhaps easy to guess.

Justin first became enamored with PC gaming when World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights 2 rewired his brain as a wide-eyed kid. As time has passed, he's amassed a hefty backlog of retro shooters, CRPGs, and janky '90s esoterica. Whether he's extolling the virtues of Shenmue or troubleshooting some fiddly old MMO, it's hard to get his mind off games with more ambition than scruples. When he's not at his keyboard, he's probably birdwatching or daydreaming about a glorious comeback for real-time with pause combat. Any day now...

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