The Commission takes note of TikTok's decision to unilaterally suspend the "Task and Reward Programme" of TikTok Lite in France and Spain for an initial period of 60 days as of today for new users and by the end of the week for all other users in France and Spain, and in any event no later than 1 May, and to pause the roll-out of TikTok Lite in other EU Member States. The Commission will monitor the effective implementation of this public pledge.
The company's statement follows the Commission's announcement of its intention to impose interim measures by suspending the TikTok Lite feature which allows to earn points and convert them into vouchers, pending the assessment of its risks, and safety and mitigating measures to avoid addictiveness. On 22 April, the Commission opened a second formal proceedings against TikTok to assess whether the "Task and Reward Program" had been launched without prior diligent assessment of the risks it entails, in particular those related to the addictive effect of the platforms, and without taking effective risk mitigating measures. This is of particular concern for children, given the suspected absence of effective age verification mechanisms on TikTok.
The two formal proceedings against TikTok, including the one concerning the launch of TikTok Lite, remain open.
Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said:
"While our first non-compliance case against TikTok under the DSA is ongoing, the company launched TikTok Lite, which includes a feature that financially rewards extra screen time. We suspect that this feature could generate addiction and that TikTok did not do a diligent risk assessment and take effective mitigation measures prior to its launch.
I take note of TikTok's decision to suspend the TikTok Lite "Reward Program" in the EU, following the opening of our case on 22 April and the communication of our readiness to adopt interim measures.
Our cases against TikTok on the risk of addictiveness of the platform continue, including the investigation to establish whether the launch of TikTok Lite was done in compliance with the DSA.
Our children are not guinea pigs for social media. The DSA ensures the safety of our EU online space."
