The video-sharing platform is subject to two Commission investigations under the DSA.
ADVERTISEMENTTikTok has voluntarily suspended the rewards functions in its TikTok Lite app in the wake of European Commission investigations, the social media announced today (24 April).
The suspension will start as of today for an initial period of 60 days for new users and by the end of the week for all other users in France and Spain. The roll-out in other member states has been paused as well.
"TikTok always seeks to engage constructively with the EU Commission and other regulators. We are therefore voluntarily suspending the rewards functions in TikTok Lite while we address the concerns that they have raised,” the video-sharing platform said in a statement on X.
The Commission said earlier this week (22 April) that it will begin a probe under the Digital Services Act (DSA) over the launch of the app to check compliance with the rules and whether it conducted a risk assessment prior to rolling out the functions. The EU executive had quizzed the company about its potential impact on the mental health of users, in particular in relation to the potential stimulation of addictive behaviour.
TikTok had until yesterday (23 April) to hand in a risk assessment - which it duly did according to a Commission spokesperson.
The Commission also told TikTok earlier this week that it plans to impose interim measures to suspend the Lite rewards programme in the EU pending the assessment of its safety. TikTok had until today to reply to the Commission with its defence.
In a response to today’s voluntary suspension, EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton said he “takes note of the decision”.
“Our cases against TikTok on the risk of addictiveness of the platform continue, including the investigation to establish whether the launch of TikTok Lite was done in compliance with the DSA. Our children are not guinea pigs for social media. The DSA ensures the safety of our EU online space,” Breton said.
Through TikTok Lite, users over 18 years old can earn points under a so-called “Reward Program”, while performing certain tasks on the app, such as watching videos, liking content, following creators or inviting friends to join. These points can be exchanged for rewards, such as Amazon vouchers, gift cards via PayPal or TikTok's coins currency.
The Commission opened its first non-compliance probe under the DSA against TikTok back in February.
