Regulators say the platform’s privacy settings don’t go far enough under the Digital Services Act.
The European Commission has accused TikTok of falling short on protecting minors, saying the platform’s current account settings don’t meet the child safety standards required under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The findings are preliminary, but if upheld, TikTok could face a fine of up to 6% of its global annual revenue.
Why the EU thinks TikTok isn’t doing enough
According to the Commission, TikTok allows minors to set their accounts to public, making their content visible to anyone — including people without a TikTok account. Regulators also say that content posted by older teenagers (aged 16 and 17) can still be recommended to other users through the For You feed, increasing the risk of unwanted contact, cyberbullying, or exploitation.
The Commission argues that stronger privacy protections for children should be enabled by default, rather than relying on users to change their settings manually. It also wants content from minors’ public accounts to be visible only to approved TikTok followers instead of being accessible to a broader audience, while recommending that minors’ content should not appear in the For You feed for other users.
EU Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen said protecting minors online should never be optional, adding that platforms are expected to build child safety into their services by design rather than offering it as an opt-in feature.
What TikTok said
TikTok has pushed back against the findings, saying it shares the Commission’s goal of protecting young users and already offers more than 50 privacy and safety features for teens. As reported by Reuters, the company notes that accounts for users under 18 are private by default, while younger teens cannot use direct messaging and their content is not recommended in the For You feed. TikTok says it will review the Commission’s findings and continue working with regulators before a final decision is reached.
The Commission’s announcement represents preliminary findings, meaning TikTok now has the opportunity to formally respond before the EU decides whether the company has violated the DSA. If regulators remain unconvinced, they could issue a non-compliance decision along with financial penalties. The investigation is one of several ongoing DSA probes into TikTok as European regulators continue tightening oversight of how large social media platforms protect younger users online
Varun is an experienced technology journalist and editor with over eight years in consumer tech media. His work spans…
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