The European Union has ordered TikTok to disable or modify features such as infinite scroll and recommendation systems it deems addictive. The move marks a significant escalation in how regulators apply digital safety rules to major platforms.
Europe’s crackdown on algorithm-driven engagement is moving from theory to enforcement.
This week, regulators in the European Union told TikTok to disable or substantially limit features such as infinite scroll and personalized recommendation mechanisms, citing concerns that they encourage compulsive use—particularly among younger users.
The directive represents one of the most concrete attempts yet to reshape how large social platforms design their core user experiences under the EU’s sweeping digital regulations.
From content moderation to product design
For years, regulatory scrutiny of social media focused on what platforms host: harmful content, misinformation, and illegal material. The TikTok decision signals a shift toward how platforms function.
Infinite scroll and algorithmic recommendations are not incidental features; they are central to TikTok’s growth and cultural influence. By targeting these mechanics, EU regulators are asserting that engagement architecture itself can pose systemic risks.
The action builds on the EU’s broader push to treat excessive engagement as a public policy issue rather than a matter of user choice alone.
A test case for Europe’s digital rules
While the EU has previously fined companies for data protection or competition violations, ordering changes to product features raises the stakes.
The move draws authority from the bloc’s digital regulatory framework, which allows regulators to intervene when platform design is seen as undermining user well-being. TikTok, with its heavy reliance on algorithmic feeds, has become a focal point for testing how far that authority extends.
Compliance could require meaningful changes to how content is surfaced, how sessions end, or how users are nudged to continue scrolling—alterations that may affect engagement metrics and advertising performance.
Implications for the wider tech sector
Although TikTok is the immediate target, the implications reach far beyond a single app.
Infinite scroll and recommendation engines are foundational features across social media, video streaming, and even news platforms. If regulators succeed in forcing structural changes at TikTok, other companies may face similar demands.
For tech firms operating in Europe, the message is clear: product design decisions once framed as optimization problems are now subject to regulatory judgment.
A growing global divide
The EU’s intervention also highlights a widening gap between regulatory approaches. While European policymakers are increasingly willing to constrain engagement-driven design, other regions remain more hesitant to intervene at the product level.
For TikTok, that divergence raises operational complexity. Features acceptable in one market may need to be modified or disabled in another, challenging the notion of globally uniform platforms.
As enforcement actions accelerate, Europe is positioning itself not just as a regulator of content, but as an arbiter of how digital attention itself is engineered.
