The European Commission launches a second investigation into TikTok for possible violation of EU law

The European Commission has opened a new case against TikTok. The platform is suspected of violating the Digital Services Act (DSA), TechCrunch reports.

The reason for the new investigation was the reward system in the TikTok Lite app. According to it, users can receive points for watching videos, liking, subscribing, etc.

However, this system raises concerns – it was launched without a thorough risk assessment. We are talking, for example, about the addictive effect of the platform. TikTok Lite was recently launched in Spain and France.

On March 17, the European Commission announced that TikTok has to provide a risk assessment of the app within one day. The Commission sent a request to ByteDance to provide all the necessary information and more details on the risk assessment.

Now, the EC has announced that it intends to introduce interim measures that could force the company to suspend access to TikTok Lite in the EU while it investigates concerns about possible risks to users’ mental health.

This development shows that the EU is reacting harshly to the launch of a product it considers risky if it can prove that the platform is not following the expected procedure.

Fines for confirmed DSA violations can reach up to 6% of companies’ global annual turnover if EU law enforcement agencies decide that they are in violation of the law. ByteDance, which is the parent company of TikTok, is currently facing this threat.

In February, the European Union launched the first official investigation into ByteDance’s TikTok.