TikTok announces suspension of new app's rewards programme amid EU probe
TikTok announces suspension of new app's rewards programme amid EU probe
TikTok on Wednesday announced that it was shelving one of its features in France and Spain in its spinoff TikTok Lite app that rewarded users for watching and liking videos, after the European Union launched an investigation.
The popular short-form video hosting service owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance released a statement saying that the suspension would stay in place "while we address the concerns that they have raised".
The European Commission's top tech enforcer, Thierry Breton, said the EU probe would continue, claiming, "Our children are not guinea pigs for social media."
TikTok Lite made its way to France and Spain in the month of March. Notably, these are the only EU countries where the application is available. It provided users above the age of 18 with a platform where they could earn points in exchange for vouchers or gift cards.
The app was designed to operate over slower internet speed connections and takes up less space in a smartphone.
'Risk to users' mental health'
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The European Commission had announced its decision to launch a probe into TikTok Lite on Monday (Apr 22), further threatening to suspend its rewards programme over concerns that it posed a risk to users' mental health.
The commission gave the platform a deadline of Wednesday demanding TikTok to provide more information along with any defence against the threatened suspension.
Breton released a statement saying that "our cases against TikTok on the risk of addictiveness of the platform continue".
"We suspect that this (rewards) feature could generate addiction and that TikTok did not do a diligent risk assessment and take effective mitigation measures prior to its launch," he said.
The investigation is the European Union's second against the short-form video platform under a new law, the Digital Services Act (DSA), which makes it mandatory for digital firms operating in the 27 EU member countries to police online content effectively.
In February, the commission launched a formal investigation into TikTok over apparent violations of its commitments towards safeguarding minors online.
(With inputs from agencies)