The European Commission said on 6 November 20261 it has preliminarily found that TikTok's "For You" feed breaches the Digital Services Act (DSA) through the "rabbit hole effect" of its recommender system.
The Commission's summary describes a feedback loop. The more a user interacts with a type of content, the more the feed recommends similar content. The Commission said this design "can be harmful" when endless, repeated exposure involves content about sadness, isolation or body image, and that such "rabbit holes" "can have a detrimental impact" on mental health, especially for vulnerable adults and minors.
The Commission added that the feed shows users a continuous stream of personalised videos, "even when those are related to mental health struggles and body image."
What the finding covers
The Commission said the preliminary findings "focus on both risk assessment and mitigation measures." Its summary does not define either term or name the DSA provisions involved. It describes the finding as preliminary, not a final decision.
The summary page refers readers to a full press release for details. That release was not reviewed for this report, and the summary does not set out the evidence behind the finding, TikTok's response, possible penalties or the next procedural steps.