he European Commission has raised concerns about TikTok’s “addictive design”, preliminarily finding that several features of the platform may breach the European Union’s Digital Services Act.
The investigation focuses on features including infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications and highly personalised recommendations — all of which can encourage users to continue consuming content.
According to the Commission, TikTok has not adequately assessed how these features could affect users’ physical and mental wellbeing, particularly children, teenagers and other potentially vulnerable users.
From a cyberpsychology perspective, one of the key concerns is the removal of natural stopping points.
Unlike reaching the end of a television episode, article or chapter, an infinite feed has no obvious endpoint. Each swipe immediately delivers another piece of personalised content, making it easy for a few intended minutes of use to become a much longer session.
TikTok already provides screen-time controls and parental tools, but European regulators have questioned whether these measures do enough to interrupt established scrolling behaviour.
The Commission says TikTok may need to change elements of the platform’s design, potentially including its infinite scroll, recommendation systems and screen-time measures.
The findings remain preliminary, and TikTok has the opportunity to respond before a final decision is made.
However, the case highlights an important shift in digital wellbeing: attention is increasingly moving beyond what people see online to how digital platforms are designed to influence behaviour and capture attention.
Read the full article on Aljazeera.
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