The European Commission said on 6 November 2026 that it has preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the Digital Services Act over the “rabbit hole effect” of its recommender system. The finding is set out in press release IP/26/2361 and a matching digital-strategy news page. The Commission’s own text states that these preliminary findings do not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.
At the centre of the case is TikTok’s For You feed: a continuous stream of personalised videos that, the Commission says, can keep serving more of the same when users engage with content about mental-health struggles and body image. More watching and liking of a theme is treated as interest, so similar clips keep arriving. That loop, Brussels argues, can trap people — including vulnerable adults and minors — in harmful rabbit holes.
What the Commission says went wrong
The preliminary findings attack two layers: risk assessment and mitigation.
On risk assessment, the Commission preliminarily found that TikTok did not adequately assess how its recommendation algorithm may lead users into rabbit holes that put wellbeing at risk. Engagement signals such as watching and liking videos personalise the stream. When someone repeatedly watches or likes triggering material — for example weight-loss or body-image clips — the system treats those interactions as positive signs of interest and recommends more of the same. Repeated exposure, the Commission says, may increase sadness or anxiety, body dissatisfaction, lower self-esteem, or worsen existing eating disorders and mental conditions.
On mitigation, the Commission preliminarily concludes that TikTok failed to put in place proportionate, reasonable and effective measures. Diversified-recommendation tools do not sufficiently cut how often similar content — including mental-health and body-image material — is served. Control tools do not effectively let users steer the feed: using “not interested”, for example, may not be enough to change what appears. Viewing time is prioritised over a user’s choice to see less of certain content.
At this stage, the Commission considers that TikTok needs to change the For You design. Examples it gives: rely more on users’ explicit preferences; disable viewing time as a recommendation indicator; increase the accessibility and usability of user controls; and regularly test the algorithm.
Same TikTok DSA file, next procedural step
Today’s rabbit-hole findings sit inside formal DSA proceedings already opened against TikTok. As part of the same file, the Commission adopted preliminary findings on addictive design in February 2026 and on protection of minors in July 2026. Access to public data for researchers drew preliminary findings in October 2025. An advertising-transparency strand was closed through binding commitments in December 2025.
Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said: “Every time a user scrolls or likes a video on TikTok, the algorithm serves more of the same leading users down rabbit holes they cannot easily escape from. The Digital Services Act makes platforms responsible for addressing the negative effects related to their recommender system. Today’s preliminary findings show again that TikTok needs to step up its efforts to protect users’ well-being, including those of minors.”
The Irish Digital Services Coordinator, Coimisiún na Meán, supported the Commission in the investigation, according to the press release. TSN has not seen a separate same-day statement on cnam.ie.
TikTok now has a right of defence: it may examine the investigation file and reply in writing. The European Board for Digital Services will be consulted in parallel. Only if the Commission’s views are ultimately confirmed may it issue a non-compliance decision. That decision can trigger a fine proportionate to the nature, gravity, recurrence and duration of the infringement, reaching up to but not more than 6% of the provider’s total worldwide annual turnover. No fine has been imposed by today’s preliminary step.
How this sits beside other platform rules
A preliminary DSA finding is not a final verdict, and it is not the same as a US state statute or a UK Online Safety Act information notice. Still, the pattern is familiar: regulators are treating recommender design — not only individual pieces of content — as the compliance object.
California’s AB 1709 fight with Meta, Google and TikTok is a different legal system and a lawsuit posture, but it likewise turns on how AI chatbots and platforms interact with minors. In the UK, Ofcom’s information-notice powers show a parallel enforcement toolkit for forcing disclosure from regulated services. On the EU competition side, TSN has covered TikTok’s DMA gatekeeper Advocate General opinion, a separate track from DSA systemic-risk duties. And DSA process itself is already live against other very large platforms, including Booking.com proceedings.
For compliance teams, the rabbit-hole theory matters even before a final decision. The Commission’s provisional design wishlist — explicit preferences over viewing-time signals, stronger “not interested” behaviour, regular algorithm testing — sketches what a remedial package might look like if the finding hardens. Platforms that still lean hard on dwell-time personalisation for sensitive themes should expect those design choices to be tested against systemic-risk and mitigation duties, not only against content-moderation checklists.
UK readers remain under the Online Safety Act rather than the DSA for domestic duties, but EU users of TikTok are inside the DSA perimeter today. A confirmed non-compliance decision would be an EU-law outcome with a worldwide-turnover fine cap; it would not, by itself, rewrite Ofcom’s UK rulebook.
What to watch next
The next public markers are TikTok’s written defence, any Board consultation readout the Commission chooses to publish, and — only if Brussels holds its line — a non-compliance decision that could unlock the up-to-6% fine. Until then, IP/26/2361 is a preliminary finding on risk assessment and mitigation for For You rabbit holes, explicitly without prejudging the end of the case.
Sources
Primary:
- European Commission press release IP/26/2361, 6 November 2026
- Commission digital-strategy news: preliminary finding on TikTok For You rabbit holes, 6 November 2026
- IP/26/2361 PDF
Related TSN:
- Meta, Google and TikTok Sue Over California AB 1709
- Ofcom Information Notices
- TikTok DMA Gatekeeper Advocate General Opinion
- EU DSA Booking.com Proceedings
Related stories
- Meta, Google and TikTok Sue Over California AB 1709
- High Court Backs Ofcom Over Meta, X and TikTok Information Notices
- EU Court Adviser Says TikTok Should Lose Its Challenge to Its DMA Gatekeeper Label
- EU Opens DSA Case Into Whether Booking.com Does Enough to Stop Scams
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