After TikTok Lite launch in Spain, France, EU Commission wants details

The European Commission asked TikTok to provide information on how it evaluated the risks associated with the launch of its Lite app, on Wednesday (17 April), under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The DSA, effective from 17 February, regulates content moderation. Even though this is not a fully-fledged investigation, under the DSA, the Commission can impose fines for providing incorrect, incomplete, or misleading information in response to an information request.

TikTok should have conducted a risk evaluation before introducing TikTok Lite in the EU, said the Commission. The Lite app was launched in France and Spain in April.

The Chinese-owned platform has 24 hours to submit the risk assessment, which the Commission says should have been conducted before its launch. Other information is to be submitted by 26 April.

TikTok Lite is a version of TikTok designed for regions with slower internet speeds. It introduces a “Reward Program” for users over 18 years old, allowing them to earn points and through that also money by engaging with the platform.

“Is social media ‘lite’ as addictive and toxic as cigarettes ‘light’?” said European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton on X, announcing the request for information.

“We have already been in direct contact with the Commission regarding this product and will respond to the request for information,” a TikTok spokesperson told Euractiv.

Reactions

“The mechanism of remuneration proportional to viewing time – albeit capped at one hour and forbidden to minors – is a questionable drift in our digital space,” said French Minister of State for Digital Affairs Marina Ferrari.

French MEP Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Renew) called for additional measures on TikTok and called its practices “total hypocrisy” in a letter previously sent to the Commission and seen by Euractiv.

“TikTok presents itself as a champion of minors’ protection” while simultaneously “it introduces this genuine incentive for vice,” she wrote.

Yon-Courtin was the shadow rapporteur for the addictive design initiative, which the European Parliament adopted with a broad majority at its plenary session in Strasbourg in December.

“I have been very clear that creating a safer online environment for our children is an enforcement priority under the DSA,” Breton said in December when three pornography sites were added to the DSA’s “systemic risk” list.

In February, the Commission also initiated official proceedings against TikTok to investigate potential violations of the DSA concerning minors’ protection, transparent advertising, data accessibility for researchers, and managing addictive design and harmful content risks. On this, the EU body is currently collecting additional evidence.

Also in February, TikTok and Meta confirmed they are suing the Commission over an annual supervisory fee that companies listed under the DSA must pay.

Theophane Hartmann contributed to the reporting.

[Edited by Eliza Gkritsi/Rajnish Singh]

Read more with Euractiv