Brussels has delivered a sharp rebuke to TikTok. The European Commission issued preliminary findings this week that the video platform fails to meet its obligations under the Digital Services Act to shield minors from exposure and harm. The charges center on account settings that regulators say leave young users too visible to strangers, predators, and the platform’s own recommendation engine.
Published just days ago, the European Commission press release marks a significant escalation in a case that stretches back more than two years. Officials argue that TikTok’s design choices expose children to cyberbullying, unwanted contact, and long-term privacy risks that linger into adulthood. And the stakes are high. A confirmed violation could trigger fines reaching 6 percent of the company’s global annual revenue.
At the core of the dispute sits Article 28 of the DSA. It demands that platforms accessible to minors put in place measures ensuring a high level of privacy, safety, and security. The Commission says TikTok falls short because minors can set accounts to public. That makes their videos viewable by anyone on the internet, including people without TikTok accounts. Older teens aged 16 and 17 face additional risks because their content can still be pushed to the For You feed for broad recommendation.
EU Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen put the matter bluntly. “Protecting minors online should never be optional,” she said in the Commission statement. Platforms, she added, must build child safety into their services by design rather than treat it as an opt-in feature. The message carries weight. Regulators have grown tired of features that require active effort from users or parents.
According to the findings, TikTok should change the default settings for minors’ public accounts. Content would then be visible only to followers the minor has explicitly accepted. Older minors could still choose broader sharing inside the app. Yet their videos must never reach a global audience outside TikTok’s walled garden. The Commission also wants the platform to stop recommending minors’ content through the For You feed altogether.
These recommendations draw on the Commission’s Guidelines on the protection of minors, released last year. The document, informed by interviews with law enforcement, child-protection experts, and specialists in neuropsychology, stresses that protections cannot rely on user choice alone. Default settings matter most when dealing with children.
TikTok pushed back quickly. The company said it shares the goal of keeping young users safe and already provides more than 50 preset privacy and safety features for teen accounts. In a statement reported by Reuters, TikTok noted that accounts for users under 18 are set to private by default. Younger teens cannot send direct messages, and their content does not appear in the For You feed. “We will review the findings and continue to work constructively with the Commission,” the company added.
Yet the Commission remains unconvinced. Its investigators examined TikTok’s user interface, internal documents, and usage data. They concluded that current safeguards do not satisfy the DSA’s requirement for high privacy standards by default. The preliminary nature of the findings gives TikTok time to respond with evidence and arguments. A final decision could still be months away.
This latest action builds on a formal probe launched in early 2024. Back then the Commission opened proceedings over child protection, addictive design, advertising transparency, and researcher data access. The TechCrunch report from that period noted the investigation followed months of information requests. Since then, pressure has only grown.
Earlier this month the Commission published final guidelines on minor protection under the DSA. Those rules, detailed in an Inside Privacy analysis, apply to any platform that minors can access. They emphasize proportionate yet effective measures. TikTok’s case now serves as an early test of how strictly those expectations will be enforced.
Industry watchers see broader implications. Other large platforms face similar scrutiny. The Commission has already turned its attention to Snapchat, YouTube, and app stores operated by Apple and Google. A October 2025 Commission update highlighted ongoing reviews of safeguards on those services. The message is clear. Regulators intend to hold big tech accountable when defaults favor engagement over safety.
Critics of the platform have long warned about risks to children. Predatory contact, exposure to harmful content, and the addictive pull of short-form video all feature in past complaints. The Commission’s reliance on expert input from neuropsychologists suggests it takes seriously the impact of algorithmic feeds on developing brains. Those feeds, after all, keep users scrolling. For minors, that behavior can amplify vulnerability.
TikTok has invested in safety tools. Family Pairing allows parents to set screen-time limits and monitor activity. Restricted Mode filters out potentially inappropriate content. The company points to age gates and default private settings for younger users. But the EU argues these steps still leave too much to chance. A 13-year-old might select public visibility without grasping the consequences. An older teen might not realize their dance video could reach millions, including adults with ill intent.
The financial threat looms large. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, generated tens of billions in revenue last year. Six percent of that figure would amount to hundreds of millions of euros. Previous DSA cases against other firms have shown the Commission does not hesitate to impose large penalties when it finds systemic failures.
Yet enforcement remains complex. TikTok operates under intense geopolitical tension. Its Chinese ownership has prompted separate national security reviews across Europe and beyond. Those concerns sometimes overlap with child-safety debates, complicating the narrative. Still, the Commission insists this case rests solely on DSA compliance and evidence from the platform itself.
Recent coverage reflects the urgency. A JURIST article published yesterday notes that minors’ content may persist online long after they reach adulthood, creating permanent digital footprints. That long-tail risk adds another dimension to the Commission’s concerns.
Discussions continue on X as well. Users and analysts reacted swiftly to the news, with some highlighting the Commission’s focus on default settings. One post from a privacy advocate linked directly to the JURIST report and called for stronger global standards. Others questioned whether TikTok’s existing teen-account features truly address the issues raised.
The original concerns that prompted closer scrutiny appeared in a Digital Trends story that captured the Commission’s frustration with ongoing shortcomings. That piece, updated after the latest findings, echoes the same themes now formalized in the preliminary conclusions.
So what happens next? TikTok will submit its formal response. The Commission will review additional data and arguments. If officials remain unsatisfied, a non-compliance decision will follow, complete with remedies and potentially steep fines. Appeals could drag the process into 2027 or beyond. In the meantime, the case puts every major social platform on notice.
Parents, child advocates, and lawmakers are watching closely. They want concrete changes that protect kids without requiring technical savvy or constant vigilance. The Commission’s position is straightforward. Safety cannot be an afterthought. It must be the starting point for any feature a minor might encounter. TikTok now has the chance to prove it can meet that standard. Failure to do so could reshape how the app functions for its youngest users across Europe.
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