The European Commission has accused TikTok of breaching the Digital Services Act by repeatedly recommending potentially harmful content through its personalised For You feed. Preliminary findings issued on 6 November 2026 say the platform’s safeguards fail to stop users being drawn into streams of similar videos that can worsen anxiety, sadness or existing eating disorders.
The findings concern how TikTok recommends content, rather than whether individual posts are unlawful. Officials said a single video may be harmless, but repeated exposure to clips on subjects such as diet, body image or isolation can create risks, particularly for minors and vulnerable adults.
TikTok, which reports about 189 million users in the European Union, rejected the findings as fundamentally inaccurate and said it would defend its record. The Commission’s conclusions are preliminary, and the company has an opportunity to examine the case file and respond before any breach is confirmed.
Controls failed to break repetitive recommendations
At the centre of the Commission’s findings is the effectiveness of the tools TikTok provides to influence its For You feed. Officials said marking a video as not interesting did not reliably prevent similar material from appearing in subsequent recommendations.
That finding covers content dealing with diet, body image and isolation. The Commission’s concern is not that every video on those subjects is harmful, but that a continuing sequence of similar clips can have a different effect from an isolated post.
Officials also said refreshing the feed offered only brief relief from repetitive recommendations. According to the preliminary findings, the change did not provide an effective safeguard against what the Commission described as rabbit-hole effects.
The two controls are therefore central to the case: one lets a user signal that a particular video is unwanted, while the other refreshes the feed. The Commission says neither effectively addresses the pattern of repetition identified in its investigation.
The alleged failure is significant because it concerns the way lawful material is selected and presented. The investigation focuses on the cumulative experience of using the feed, including whether repeated recommendations can aggravate an existing vulnerability.
Wellbeing risks extend beyond individual videos
Henna Virkkunen, the commissioner responsible for technology policy, said TikTok must step up its protection of users’ wellbeing. The Commission identified minors and vulnerable adults as groups of particular concern in its assessment of the feed.
The findings draw a distinction between the content of a video and the consequences of receiving a stream of similar material. Anxiety, sadness and existing eating disorders are among the harms officials said such repetition can worsen.
This makes the recommendation system itself the focus of the allegation. The question is not simply whether TikTok should remove a particular post, but whether its personalised feed and the safeguards attached to it adequately protect users from harmful patterns of recommendations.
The scale of the platform gives the case a substantial EU reach. TikTok’s reported 189 million users provide the context for the Commission’s scrutiny, although that total does not establish how many people have encountered the repetitive content described in the findings.
Feed case follows findings on addictive design
The latest findings sit within a broader Digital Services Act investigation opened in February 2024. They build on a separate preliminary finding issued in February 2026 concerning TikTok’s addictive design, including infinite scroll.
The two developments concern different aspects of the platform’s design. The earlier finding addressed features associated with continued use, while the November findings focus on the sequence of content delivered through the For You feed and the effectiveness of controls intended to interrupt it.
Together, they place scrutiny on the experience created by the platform, rather than solely on individual posts. The November case specifically concerns lawful content whose repeated recommendation may create risks that are not apparent when one video is considered alone.
TikTok’s rejection of the latest findings leaves that assessment contested. Its statement that the conclusions are fundamentally inaccurate is a response to the Commission’s preliminary position, not the outcome of a completed decision on this part of the investigation.
TikTok can respond before a final decision
TikTok now has the chance to examine the Commission’s file and challenge its findings. It can also change its recommender system. The preliminary announcement does not itself establish a final breach or impose a financial penalty.
If the findings are upheld, TikTok could face a fine of up to 6 per cent of its global annual turnover. That is the potential maximum penalty, not a fine already imposed or an indication of the amount any eventual decision would require.
The next stage will give TikTok an opportunity to address the allegations about repetitive recommendations and ineffective safeguards. The central issue remains whether its For You feed provides adequate protection against the cumulative harm the Commission says repeated lawful content can cause.
