Responding to the European Commission’s preliminary findings that TikTok is in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) because of the “rabbit hole” effect of its recommender system, Lisa Dittmer, Amnesty International Researcher on Children and Young People’s Digital Rights, said:

“The Commission’s preliminary finding that TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed puts users’ wellbeing at risk is a welcome and urgently needed step in the fight for accountability and safer online platforms. Amnesty International’s research has repeatedly documented how TikTok draws some children into rabbit holes of depressive and suicidal ideation content. Young people and bereaved parents shared with us how TikTok’s feed normalized and exacerbated teenagers’ struggles with depression and self-harm. This should never have been allowed to happen.

“The European Commission’s decision echoes our conclusion that TikTok had failed to adequately assess and mitigate these risks.…