TikTok responds to EU ultimatum over new rewards-for-views app

A European Commission spokesman on Tuesday confirmed it received a reply from TikTok to provide within 24 hours an assessment of mental health risks related to its new app, TikTok Lite.

According to officials, Monday’s legally-binding order concerning the new app’s rewards scheme, which allows users to collect points by watching videos and exchange them for things of value, such as Amazon vouchers

The commission wants to know how the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform assessed the addictiveness and mental health risks of the scheme, particularly for children, prior to launch.

The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) requires large platforms to assess and mitigate such risks.

“We can confirm that we received a reply from TikTok,” a commission spokesman said . He said the EU executive will now “assess the response and decide on potential next steps.”

The commission initially requested the information on April 17, with a non-binding deadline the following day.

The Commission’s officials said TikTok responded to that request by telling them it had carried out a risk assessment, but that it could not share the document. The commission then followed-up with a binding order on Monday.

A TikTok spokeswoman told dpa that this was because the company had asked the commission for more time.

In a statement, the company said TikTok Lite’s rewards scheme is not available to minors, and has a daily limit on the number of videos that can be watched for a reward.

TikTok Lite had its European launch in France and Spain this month.