TikTok preliminarily found in breach of the DSA

IRIS 2026-8:1/8

Eric Munch

European Audiovisual Observatory

On 24 July 2026, the European Commission sent TikTok preliminary findings indicating that the TikTok accounts of minors did not meet the safety standards required under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The determining factor was the fact that minors can choose to set their account to "public", allowing any user, including those without a TikTok account to view their content. Under this setting, the content published by minors aged 16 and 17 can also be recommended to other users, leading to risks of unwanted contact, and risks of having the minors’ content be used for cyberbullying. The Commission also pointed to the fact that the content published by minors may stay online forever and follow them into adulthood, with potentially life-long consequences.

Additionally, the Commission found that even when minors choose to set their accounts as private, they can easily be found through the "following" and "followers" lists of other users, with their profile photos remaining visible to anyone, including users without a TikTok account, leaving them vulnerable to unwanted contact, cyberbullying or predatory behaviour.

Because of the above, the Commission considers that TikTok does not provide a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors on its service, failing to meet the standard set by the DSA.

The Commission considers that TikTok, in line with the Guidelines on the protection of minors published on 14 July 2025, should adjust the default setting of minors’ public accounts in order for their content to be visible only to TikTok users accepted by the minors as followers. In the case of older minors (16 and 17 year-olds), while they may have the option to share their content with a broader audience, they should under no circumstances be accessible to a global audience outside the platform. Finally, the Commission indicated that TikTok should refrain from recommending minors’ content to other TikTok users through the For You Feed.

TikTok now has the possibility to examine the documents in the Commission’s investigation files and to reply to the Commission’s preliminary findings. If the Commission’s views are confirmed, it may issue a non-compliance decision, which may result in a fine.