LONDON (AP) — TikTok announced Wednesday that it is removing a feature from its new app rewarding users in Europe for watching videos, after facing pressure from regulators concerned about its addictive features.
The company supported days off after the European Union warned that the TikTok Lite app may have breached the 27-nation bloc’s digital regulations when it launched earlier this month. The EU Executive Commission has threatened to order the suspension of features that pose a risk to children.
“TikTok always seeks to engage constructively with the European Commission and other regulators,” it said in a post on social media platform X. “We are therefore voluntarily suspending the rewards functions in TikTok Lite while we address the concerns they have raised.”
TikTok Lite, deployed in France and Spain, is a lighter version of the main TikTok application that allows users to earn rewards. Points earned by watching videos, liking content, and following content creators can then be redeemed for rewards including Amazon vouchers and gift cards on PayPal.
EU officials warned earlier this week that TikTok could face an order as early as Thursday to suspend reward features. They asked the company transmit information on the application, including a risk assessment which should have been carried out before the deployment of the application, under penalty of heavy financial sanctions.
“Our children are not guinea pigs for social media,” European Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a social media post in response to the announcement.
He noted that major app TikTok was facing EU scrutiny in the form of a separate, ongoing in-depth investigation into its compliance with the bloc’s digital services law. Brussels is examining whether TikTok is doing enough to reduce “systemic risks” arising from its design, including “algorithmic systems” that could drive “behavioral addictions”. The bureaus are concerned that measures including age verification tools to prevent minors from finding “inappropriate content” will not be effective.
