TikTok reward-to-watch feature suspended after EU threats to block it
A TikTok service offering rewards such as gift vouchers for watching videos has been suspended by the company shortly after the EU threatened to block it amid fears of addiction among children.
On Monday the digital commissioner, Thierry Breton, said the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform had “failed to prove” the feature on TikTok Lite, which launched recently in France and Spain, complied with obligations under sweeping new Digital Service Act (DSA) laws.
He said the EU believed the service could be as “addictive as cigarettes” and gave the company 48 hours to respond with any fresh defence.
Breton said on Wednesday: “Our children are not guinea pigs for social media. The DSA ensures the safety of our EU online space.”
It is the latest blow to hit the company, after the US Senate voted on Tuesday to pass a bill that will either ban TikTok or force a sale of its US business.
Breton expressed dismay that the company had gone ahead with the service knowing that the European Commission had already raised concerns with TikTok over general safeguarding issues relating to children.
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