The European Union on Friday accused TikTok of breaching the bloc's digital rules with "addictive design" features that lead to compulsive use by children, in preliminary charges that strike at the heart of the popular video sharing app's operating model.

EU regulators said their two-year investigation found that TikTok hasn't done enough to assess how features such as autoplay and infinite scroll could harm the physical and mental health of users, including minors and "vulnerable adults."

The European Commission said it believes TikTok should change the "basic design" of its service. The commission is the EU's executive arm and enforcer of the 27-nation bloc's Digital Services Act, a sweeping rulebook that requires social media companies to clean up their platforms and protect users, under threat of hefty fines.

TikTok denied the accusations.

"The Commission's preliminary findings present a categorically false and entirely meritless depiction of our platform, and we will take whatever steps are necessary to challenge these findings through every means available to us," the company said in a statement.

TikTok's features including infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications, and highly personalized recommender systems "lead to the compulsive use of the app, especially for our kids, and this poses major risks to their mental health and wellbeing," Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said at a press briefing in Brussels.

"The measures that TikTok has in place are simply not enough," he said.

The company now has a chance to defend itself and reply to the commission's findings. Regnier said "if they don't do this properly," Brussels could issue a so-called non-compliance decision and possible fine worth up to 6% of... Read More