TikTok faces EU DSA probe over addictive design and US ban threat

TikTok is under simultaneous regulatory pressure in the United States and the European Union. In the United States, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, signed by President Joe Biden in April 2024, requires ByteDance to divest TikTok's U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban. TikTok has challenged the law in the D.C. Circuit Court, arguing that the divestiture deadline is unfeasible and that the ban would infringe users' First Amendment rights.

In the EU, the European Commission has preliminarily concluded that TikTok violates the Digital Services Act (DSA) because of features that promote addictive use, such as infinite scroll, autoplay and personalized recommendation feeds. Commission executive vice‑president Henna Virkkunen said, “Social media addiction can have detrimental effects on the developing minds of children and teens.” A breach could lead to fines of up to 6 % of TikTok’s global revenue. TikTok has responded with data‑localisation projects such as “Project Texas” in the United States and “Project Clover” in Europe to increase oversight of user data.