The European Commission has made preliminary findings that TikTok is in breach of online safety rules over the so-called ‘rabbit hole effect’ of its recommender system.
The Commission said TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed shows users a continuous stream of personalised videos, even when those are related to mental health struggles and body image.
“The more a user interacts with a certain type of content, the more TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed algorithm recommends similar content,” the Commission found.
“This design can be harmful when such endless and repeated exposure involves, for example, content about sadness, isolation or body image.”
“These ‘rabbit holes’ can have a detrimental impact on users’ mental health, especially that of vulnerable adults and minors,” it found.
According to the preliminary findings, TikTok is in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The commission said that TikTok did not adequately assess how its recommendation algorithm may lead users into such ‘rabbit holes’, putting their wellbeing at risk.
The preliminary findings show that the algorithm design may play an important role in the emergence of ‘rabbit holes’.
The algorithm uses information about user engagement, such as watching and liking videos, to personalise the content recommended to them.
The findings also preliminarily conclude that TikTok failed to implement proportionate, reasonable and effective mitigation measures to address these risks.
While TikTok has already put in place certain measures to mitigate the risk of the ‘rabbit hole effect’, the Commission has preliminarily found that these measures are not effective.
At this stage of the investigation, the Commission said it considers that TikTok needs to change the design of the ‘For You’ feed.
“Every time a user scrolls or likes a video on TikTok, the algorithm serves more of the same leading users down rabbit holes they cannot easily escape from,” said Henna Virkkunen, European Commission Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy.
“The Digital Services Act makes platforms responsible for addressing the negative effects related to their recommender system.”
“Today’s preliminary findings show again that TikTok needs to step up its efforts to protect users’ well-being, including those of minors,” Ms Virkkunen said.
“If the Commission’s views are ultimately confirmed, the Commission may issue a non-compliance decision, which can trigger a fine proportionate to the nature, gravity, recurrence and duration of the infringement and reach up to but not more than 6% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the provider,” the Commission said.
TikTok now has the possibility to exercise its right to defence. It may examine the documents in the Commission’s investigation files and reply in writing to the Commission’s preliminary findings.
In a statement, TikTok said: “The Commission has made a series of statements that are fundamentally inaccurate and distort our platform’s architecture and our commitment to user safety.
“We have a strong record of protecting our community while giving users direct and intuitive control over their content experience.”
As TikTok has its European Headquarters in Dublin, the Irish media regulator Coimisiún na Meán supported this investigation.
As part of the same proceedings, the Commission adopted preliminary findings related to addictive design in February 2026, as well as related to protection of minors in July of the same year.
