The Commission made TikTok’s commitments mandatory for the permanent withdrawal of the “TikTok Lite Rewards” program by the EU. These commitments were submitted by TikTok to address concerns raised by the Commission in the formal proceedings launched against TikTok on April 22, and to ensure the platform’s compliance with the Digital Services Act .

The Executive Vice-President for a Europe Ready for the Digital Age Ms. Margaret Vesteyer stated in this regard: “The safety and well-being of social media users must be a top priority. Addictive design features in some platforms endanger the well-being of their users. That’s why we’ve made TikTok’s commitments under the Digital Services Act legally binding. We will be closely monitoring TikTok’s compliance. Today’s decision sends a clear message to the entire social media industry as well.”

The Internal Market Commissioner Mr. Thierry Breton stated the following: “Young Europeans’ free time is not – and will never be – a currency for making profit from social media. We managed to permanently withdraw the “TikTok Lite Rewards” program, which could have very addictive effects. The Digital Services Act is already producing results.”

Today’s decision makes these commitments legally binding, meaning that any breach of the commitments would directly amount to a breach of the Digital Services Act and could therefore lead to fines. With this decision, the Commission also ends the formal proceedings launched against TikTok on 22 April.

This is the first case closed by the Commission under the Digital Services Act, 105 days after the start of the process.

Athena Papakosta