TikTok suspends its user rewards program, amid EU concerns

Brussels, Belgium.- The Chinese digital video platform TikTok suspended this Wednesday a program launched in France and Spainwhich included rewards for users and had promoted an investigation of the European Union for suspicion of generating addiction.

In a message on network TikTok announced that “we will voluntarily suspend rewards features in TikTok Lite [una versión simplificada de su aplicación de videos] as we address the concerns that [los reguladores] have raised”.

“TikTok always seeks to collaborate constructively with the Commission [el brazo ejecutivo de la UE] and other regulators,” the message noted.

Last week, the European Commission had demanded explanations from TikTok about that program, due to suspicions of generating “addictive behaviors”, and later threatened to suspend the plan due to evidence that it had been launched without having first presented a risk evaluation plan.

“Our children are not guinea pigs for social media experiments“, reacted the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, in charge of controlling the operations of large digital platforms in the EU.

“Our investigations against TikTok due to the risk of addiction to the platform continue, including the investigation to establish whether the launch of TikTok Lite was carried out in accordance with current legislation, he added.

TikTok Lite is a simplified version of the popular video app, which takes up less memory on a smartphone and is designed to work with slower Internet connections.

This new plan TikTok includes a “Rewards Program” through points awarded to users who complete tasks such as watching a complete video, expressing “likes”, following content creators and inviting their contacts to join the platform.

These points can later be exchanged for vouchers for purchases on Amazon or resources on the PayPal payment network.

According to Breton, the EU suspects “that this feature could be addictive and that TikTok did not conduct a diligent risk assessment or take effective mitigation measures before its launch.”

TikTok Lite was launched in March in France and Spain.

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