On Monday, 5 August, the European Commission made the commitments that the social network TikTok made concerning the definitive withdrawal of its ‘TikTok Lite Rewards’ programme from the European Union legally binding.
This decision follows a formal investigation into TikTok that the European Commission opened in April 2024 (see EUROPE 13398/5). Its addictive potential and the negative effects it has on users’ mental health, especially minors, have notably been called into question.
While TikTok has agreed to withdraw this programme, the platform has also agreed not to launch any similar initiatives that would circumvent the withdrawal of this programme. Any breach would result in immediate sanctions under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
This is the first case that the European Commission has closed under the Digital Services Act.
It is also the first time that the European Commission has accepted commitments from a designated online platform against which it had opened formal proceedings under the Digital Services Act.
As the European Commission reiterates, formal proceedings under the regulation—in force since August 2023—are currently open against the social network X (as of December 2023, for which preliminary findings were published on 12 July 2024), against TikTok (February 2024), against the Chinese e-commerce site AliExpress (March 2024), and against the network Meta (April and May 2024).
On 12 August, European Commissioner for Digital Affairs Thierry Breton reminded Elon Musk, the head of X, of his moderation obligations under the DSA.
This warning came at a time when X was preparing to post a controversial interview with former US President Donald Trump, who is standing as the Republican presidential candidate in November—raising concerns about posting potentially dangerous content. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)