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The European Commission said on Friday it had found TikTok did not adequately protect children’s privacy on its platform, after allowing adults to view the accounts of minors.
The Commission said the failure exposed children to cyberbullying, unwanted contact and predatory behaviour.
The finding is the latest in a series of crackdowns on Big Tech by Brussels, which has led the world in regulating major technology firms, including Meta and Apple.
TikTok can now defend itself and reply to the findings.
If the Commission is not satisfied with the Chinese firm’s response, it could issue a so-called non-compliance decision and a possible fine worth up to 6% of the company’s total annual revenue.
The Commission has been investigating TikTok’s compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU’s sweeping rulebook for online platforms, since February 2024, when the company was designated a Very Large Online Platform under the law.
This is not the first time the investigation has produced adverse findings for TikTok.
In February, the Commission found the platform had breached another part of the DSA over its “addictive design,” pointing to features such as autoplay and infinite scroll that it said could harm the physical and mental health of users, particularly minors.
TikTok rejected those findings at the time, calling the Commission’s assessment “categorically false”.
TikTok has also faced scrutiny beyond the DSA.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined the company €345 million in 2023 for breaching EU data protection rules by allowing accounts for children under 13 and failing to adequately safeguard their data.
TikTok was separately fined €530 million by the same regulator over its transfer of European user data to China, a decision upheld by Ireland’s High Court this year.