The European Commission is threatening to suspend from Thursday some functions of the TikTok Lite app, launched in France and Spain to encourage users to spend more time on the platform using a rewards system. Brussels is concerned about the 'risk of serious damage to the mental health of users', including minors, resulting from the rewards program which can induce 'addiction'. This is what theHandle.
The EU initiative was opened under the Digital Services Act (DSA). Last week, the European Commission had already asked the Chinese company to provide a report by April 18 on the risk assessment for TikTok Lite and on the measures put in place to mitigate its impact. However, TikTok has not provided any documents and now has until today, April 23, to submit the requested information and until May 3 to provide additional details. Without any response within the indicated deadlines, the platform risks facing heavy fines, up to 5% of the global annual turnover.
The US House has passed a national security bill potentially banning TikTok as part of a broader aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
