TikTok could face a fine of up to 6% of its worldwide annual revenue after European Union regulators accused its video recommendation system of pushing users into harmful loops of similar content. The European Commission's November 6 findings target the app's “For You” feed, putting the algorithm behind its personalized videos directly under scrutiny.

The findings are preliminary, and no fine has been imposed. TikTok can inspect the investigation files and respond before regulators decide whether to issue a final noncompliance decision.

Watching a video can bring more of the same

The central problem, according to the Commission's findings, is how TikTok interprets attention. Watching or liking a video tells the system to recommend similar material, including when the subject is weight loss, body image or mental health struggles.

Regulators say that feedback loop can keep serving content about sadness or isolation to people who are already vulnerable. They identified possible consequences including greater anxiety, lower self-esteem, body dissatisfaction and worsening eating disorders or existing mental health conditions. Minors and vulnerable adults are particular concerns.

Henna Virkkunen, the EU's executive vice president responsible for technology, said:

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.

The investigation found shortcomings in both how the platform assessed these risks and the steps it took to reduce them. Regulators examined risk reports, internal data and documents, responses to information requests, scientific research and interviews with specialists in recommendation systems, psychology and psychiatry. Ireland's digital services coordinator supported the work.

Why “not interested” may not be enough

TikTok already has measures intended to diversify recommendations and give users control over their feeds. The regulator's objection is that those measures don't sufficiently interrupt repeated recommendations about sensitive subjects.

Its statement explains the concern:

The control tools do not effectively enable users to control the content recommended to them. For example, using the ‘not interested’ button may not be enough to change the content feed.

That means someone pressing “not interested” may still struggle to change what appears next. The assessment puts a user's explicit request to see less of a topic against a system that continues treating time spent watching it as a positive signal.

The proposed changes go into the mechanics of the feed. Officials want TikTok to give greater weight to users' stated preferences, stop using viewing time as a recommendation signal, make controls easier to find and use, and test the algorithm regularly.

Those are changes the Commission considers necessary at this stage of the investigation. TikTok's written defense and the consultation with the European Board for Digital Services come before a final decision.

The 6% penalty is a ceiling

Any eventual penalty would depend on the nature, seriousness, recurrence and duration of an infringement. The maximum cited in the release is 6% of the provider's total worldwide annual turnover. It isn't a fixed charge automatically attached to Friday's findings.

This case concerns the Digital Services Act, the EU's online-platform rules. The November action adds a specific challenge to the recommendation algorithm within a broader investigation that has already examined several parts of TikTok's service.

In February, the Commission separately challenged features including infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications and personalized recommendations. It said time-management tools were too easy to dismiss and parental controls required additional time and skills from parents to set up.

Further preliminary findings concerning protection of minors followed in July. Another strand covering advertising transparency was closed through binding commitments in December 2025, while findings concerning researchers' access to public data were issued in October 2025.

Friday's demand is particularly concrete: give people more say over what they see and change the signals that keep bringing similar videos back into their feeds.