EU Says TikTok Failed to Protect Users' Mental Health
The European Commission, the European Union's executive arm, has issued a preliminary finding that TikTok failed to protect users' mental health. The Guardian reported the ruling on 6 November 2026. A preliminary finding is an early conclusion, not a final decision, and TikTok now has the chance to examine the investigation file and mount a defence.
The Commission's investigators focused on what the app's recommendation system shows people over time. The system, which chooses the videos that appear in a user's feed, was found to have repeatedly served content on themes such as body image or isolation. The Commission said such content can lead to anxiety, sadness or worsened eating disorders. It also found that TikTok's safeguards against what it called "rabbit-hole effects", where a feed narrows steadily toward one subject, were ineffective.
Investigators gave a concrete example. If a user pressed the "not interested" button on a video about eating patterns, the algorithm would still offer similar content on diet and body image. Refreshing the feed gave only a brief break from a stream of content on the same topic.
Henna Virkkunen, the Commission's tech policy lead, said TikTok needs to step up its efforts to protect users' wellbeing, including that of minors. EU officials want the company to change the design of its ForYou feed so that users have greater control over what they see.
The consequences are not yet settled. If the EU upholds the finding after the process runs its course, TikTok could be fined up to 6% of its global turnover. The company could also agree to change its recommender system to avoid a fine, according to the Commission's process.
The mental-health findings are part of a wider investigation into TikTok that the Commission opened in February 2024 under the Digital Services Act, the EU law that sets duties for large online platforms. The Commission says the law's main goal is a safer digital space in which fundamental rights are protected. It applies to services including TikTok, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Shein and Booking.com.
The Commission has already moved against TikTok under the same law. It previously found that the app breached EU rules on "addictive design", citing features such as infinite scroll, which lets content load continuously without a natural stopping point. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, and the platform has 189 million users in the EU.
