Chinese-owned video sharing platform TikTok introduced on Wednesday that it’s voluntarily suspending the rewards scheme for its new TikTok Lite app, amid a authorized investigation by the European Commission.
The fee stated on Monday that it might order TikTok to droop the rewards function until the corporate demonstrated – inside 48 hours – that it poses no threat of great hurt. The fee additionally stated the corporate needed to present it had complied with threat evaluation and mitigation guidelines for big platforms beneath the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
On Wednesday, TikTok posted on X: “TikTok always seeks to engage constructively with the EU Commission and other regulators. We are therefore voluntarily suspending the rewards functions in TikTok Lite while we address the concerns that they have raised.”
The EU probe issues the way in which TikTok Lite lets customers accumulate factors by watching movies and alternate them for issues of worth, resembling Amazon vouchers. The fee stated on Monday that it was involved the scheme “has been launched without prior diligent assessment of the risks it entails, in particular those related to the addictive effect.”
TikTok Lite, which is analogous to the wildly standard TikTok app however makes use of much less reminiscence and bandwidth, had its European launch in Spain and France this month.
The fee was notably involved in regards to the doable results on kids, officers stated.
Responding to the announcement on Wednesday, EU business commissioner Thierry Breton stated on X: “Our children are not guinea pigs for social media. I take note of TikTok’s decision to suspend the TikTokLite “Reward Program” in the EU. The cases against TikTok on the risk of addictiveness of the platform continue.”
TikTok despatched dpa an announcement on Tuesday saying that “the TikTok Lite rewards hub is not available to under 18s, and there is a daily limit on video watch tasks. We will continue discussions with the commission.”
On Tuesday, European Commission spokesman confirmed that it had acquired a reply from TikTok earlier than the primary deadline. He stated the EU govt will “assess the response and decide on potential next steps.”
If the fee finally concludes that TikTok has fallen wanting its risk-assessment and risk-mitigation obligations beneath the DSA, it might high quality the corporate as much as 6% of its world annual income.
The DSA’s risk-mitigation guidelines for Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) – these with greater than 45 million month-to-month energetic customers within the European Union – got here into pressure in August 2023.
Currently-listed VLOPs embody TikTok, X – previously generally known as Twitter – and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms.
Source: www.anews.com.tr