USA demands that the Chinese company be sold within the country; EU investigates TikTok Lite’s role as especially addictive for young people. Are the days of the platform famous for its dance videos numbered in the West? The Chinese video platform TikTok is probably the most loved by children and teenagers around the world – and also the most controversial. At the end of April 2024, the app again attracted negative attention. Understand the case.
Photo: DW / Deutsche Welle
Why should TikTok be banned in the US?
The American Senate approved on Tuesday (23/04) the compulsory sale of TikTok in the United States. Therefore, the law passed in the second instance of Congress, after a vote by the House of Representatives over the weekend. The law was signed into law the following day by President Joe Biden.
Thus, within a period of 270 days, extendable for another 90, the application famous for its dance videos must leave its parent company, Bytedance. Otherwise, it will be removed from Apple, Google and other app stores, preventing new downloads at least.
The parliamentary initiative was based on reservations regarding data protection: Bytedance is under suspicion of allowing the Communist Party of China access to users’ personal data – of which there are 170 million in the USA alone. Specifically, there are fears that Beijing could force TikTok to hand over this information. Furthermore, the Chinese government could use algorithms to spread propaganda and disinformation. TikTok rejects all allegations.
Why is the EU investigating TikTok Lite?
The European Union also has the company in its sights again – although for other reasons. A new investigation aims to verify whether TikTok Lite’s reward function threatens the mental health of young people, therefore violating European standards. The new app was launched in April and, within the EU, it is currently only available in France and Spain.
Since August 2023, large social platforms such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram or, precisely, TikTok have been subject to the directives of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which aims to prevent illegal or harmful online activities. The law also prohibits so-called “dark patterns”: manipulative practices to keep users connected to platforms.
The European Commission condemns the Chinese firm for having launched TikTok Lite in the two member countries without first properly assessing the risks, ignoring the deadline it had to submit a report on the matter, until April 18. After obtaining a 24-hour extension, the company would have presented its risk assessment on Tuesday, according to its own information.
In this way, it avoided a fine of up to 1% of its annual revenue, as well as blocking the new app’s controversial reward function. The EU had already opened another investigation against TikTok in February, due to alleged gaps in child and youth protection.
What makes TikTok Lite supposedly so addictive?
TikTok Lite has a new points system: whoever watches more videos, likes more content or invites friends to join the platform, receives digital coins that can be exchanged for gift vouchers, for example for the Amazon online store. According to the European Commission, this function has a great potential to create dependency.
With its many dance and karaoke videos, the app is extremely appealing to children and teenagers. Its conditions of use stipulate 13 years as the minimum age, and below 18 years of age, official authorization from parents or other guardians is required. However, there is no indication that age is checked effectively, the European Commission also criticized.
In general, is TikTok more addictive than other social networks?
TikTok’s algorithms work a little differently than those of older social platforms, and therefore may have greater potential for dependency. From the beginning it displays videos liked by other users, rather than mainly content from accounts that are being followed.
The Chinese social network’s algorithms are also very intelligent: the longer users stay on it, the greater the accuracy with which it predicts what might please them.
The strategy has its effect: in the USA, young users spend, on average, more than two and a half hours daily browsing the app, according to a study cited by the Washington Post in March 2023. Almost half of the girls consulted defined themselves as ” addicted” to TikTok, with those suffering from depression being especially vulnerable.
Some young people even use the software more or less continuously. In a September 2023 study by the American opinion research institute Pew Research, 17% of participants revealed that they spend their time “scrolling” “almost constantly” on TitkTok – a record, compared to other apps.
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