Responding to the European Commission’s preliminary findings that TikTok’s design is addictive and in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA), a landmark EU law meant to create a safer digital space, Lisa Dittmer, Amnesty International Researcher on Children and Young People’s Digital Rights said:
“For years now, TikTok has been the forefront of Big Tech’s race to capture children’s time and attention at all costs. This announcement is an overdue but welcome acknowledgement of TikTok’s addictive design.
“The European Commission must now urgently show that it is willing and capable of enforcing the Digital Services Act to stop this abuse and provide children, young people and adults alike with a safer online environment.
“Amidst current discussions of restrictions on children’s access to social media platforms, governments must remember they also have a duty to protect children’s right to participate in the digital world. To do so, their focus must be on tackling the toxic design of leading social media platforms, including through effectively enforcing laws like the Digital Services Act, as opposed to restricting children’s rights.”
Background:
In its preliminary assessment published today, the European Commission said TikTok did not adequately assess how its addictive design features could harm the physical and mental wellbeing of its users.
It pointed to certain design features which it said keeps users scrolling and shift their brains into ‘auto pilot mode’ and called for a change in the platform’s design.
Amnesty International’s research has repeatedly highlighted the serious risks TikTok poses to children and young people’s mental and physical health. This included evidence of TikTok’s use of addictive design elements as well as stark findings of TikTok’s toxic rabbit hole effects associated with the platform’s hyper-personalized ‘For You’ feed.
Most recently in October 2025, Amnesty International research conducted in France showed that TikTok continues to draw children and young people showing an interest in mental health-related videos into spirals of content that romanticizes self-harm and suicide or shows young people expressing intentions to end their lives, including information on suicide methods.