The European Commission has closed its investigation into TikTok Litethe “light” version of the Chinese app that included a reward system for users. The investigation, opened in April, concerned alleged violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA)the European law on the security and transparency of digital services.
TikTok Lite, launched in France and Spain, was virtually identical to the standard version of the app, but included the feature “Task and Reward”which allowed users to earn vouchers by doing certain actions, such as watching videos, liking them, following users, and inviting friends.
The Commission feared that this function could create dependenceespecially among minors, and that TikTok had failed to take adequate measures to prevent its use by users under 18. TikTok had failed to provide the requested evidence by the deadline, leading to the opening of a formal investigation.
Well, 105 days later, the Commission announced that ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, has committed to permanently withdraw TikTok Lite from stores in EU countries and that it will not develop similar apps to circumvent the DSA rules. This is a historic decision in some ways: it is in fact the first case that the Commission closes under the Digital Services Act and it is also the first time that the EU accepts commitments from an online platform against which it had initiated formal proceedings under the same law.
At this point, “the Commission will closely monitor TikTok’s compliance with the binding commitments that the platform has offered under Article 71 of the Digital Services Act, as well as with other obligations under the Digital Services Act.” In the meantime, the Commission’s first formal proceeding against TikTok, launched on 19 February and which we discussed in the article What’s happening between TikTok and Europe?, remains open and the investigation continues.
What do you think about this decision? Let us know in the comments below.
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