TikTok Recommendation Design Draws Preliminary DSA Breach Findings

The European Commission announced on November 6, 2026 that it had preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) over the “rabbit hole effect” of its For You recommender system. The findings cover both risk assessment and mitigation and do not prejudge the investigation’s outcome. If the Commission ultimately confirms its views, it may issue a non-compliance decision and impose a fine of up to 6% of the provider’s total worldwide annual turnover, with the amount proportionate to the infringement’s nature, gravity, recurrence and duration. No final decision or fine was announced.

Engagement Signals and Rabbit-Hole Risks

TikTok’s For You feed presents a continuous stream of personalized videos. The algorithm uses engagement information, including watching and liking videos, to personalize recommendations. When a user repeatedly watches or likes potentially triggering material about weight loss or body image, the system interprets those interactions as positive signs of interest and recommends more of the same.

The Commission’s preliminary assessment is that repeated exposure to such content may increase feelings of sadness or anxiety, cause body dissatisfaction and lower self-esteem, or worsen existing eating disorders and mental conditions. It identifies particular risks for minors and vulnerable adults when endless, repeated exposure involves content about sadness, isolation or body image.

Controls and Design Changes

TikTok has already introduced measures intended to mitigate rabbit-hole risks, but the Commission preliminarily found that they did not amount to proportionate, reasonable and effective mitigation. Its content-diversification measures do not sufficiently reduce how often similar material is recommended, including material about mental-health struggles and body image. The “not interested” button also may not adequately change the feed because the algorithm prioritizes viewing time over a user’s explicit choice to see less of certain content.

At this stage, the Commission considers that TikTok needs to change the For You feed’s design. Its examples include relying more on explicit user preferences, disabling viewing time as a recommendation indicator, making controls more accessible and usable, and regularly testing the algorithm. These are design changes raised in preliminary findings, not remedies imposed through a final decision.

Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, framed the obligation in terms of platform responsibility: “The Digital Services Act makes platforms responsible for addressing the negative effects related to their recommender system.”

Defense Rights and Wider Proceedings

TikTok may examine documents in the investigation file and reply in writing to the preliminary findings, while the European Board for Digital Services will be consulted. The Commission’s views draw on TikTok’s risk-assessment reports, internal data and documents, responses to multiple information requests, a review of scientific research, and interviews with experts in recommender systems, psychology and psychiatry. Ireland’s Digital Services Coordinator, Coimisiún na Meán, supported the investigation.

The new findings form part of formal proceedings examining TikTok’s DSA compliance. They are distinct from the preliminary addictive-design findings published on February 6, 2026, which addressed infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications and personalized recommendations. Other strands of the proceedings have addressed protection of minors, researchers’ access to public data and advertising transparency.

The next stage allows TikTok to respond to both the Commission’s account of its recommender system and its assessment of the controls. The remaining proceedings will determine whether the preliminary concerns about the feed’s design are confirmed, with any non-compliance decision and financial penalty still unresolved.