EU Commission probes TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat’s video suggestions

TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat will have to answer European Commission questions on how their video recommendation algorithms work, the EU executive announced on Wednesday (2 October).  

The investigation, made under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), is looking at why vulnerable people are being fed fake news linked to elections or content that glamourises eating disorders, depression and drug abuse. 

The Commission is interested in the impact of features like autoplay and infinite scrolling, and which safeguards platforms have to prevent the spread of harmful content.

Under the DSA, the largest online platforms with more than 45 million monthly users must meet strict transparency requirements. 

One senior EU official said the inquiry should act as a “wake-up call” for platforms to change their behaviour — such as by letting users hide certain types of video.

Sites that don’t furnish documents before November 15 or provide false information face fines under EU law.

But the probe is just an initial step, and the EU executive will determine whether to initiate formal proceedings after it has analysed responses. 

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is not subject to this specific request, but in May the Commission began a separate investigation into whether those networks’ interfaces exploit children’s inexperience to spur addictive behaviour. 

The EU already has investigations pending into TikTok, social media network X and Chinese-owned online retailer AliExpress. A top Commission official said last month that more probes into alleged DSA non-compliance are coming soon.