-Reposted on the website and radio of German state broadcaster DW-
The “rabbit hole” effect, the descent into an information spiral, is leading to a new clash between the EU and TikTok. Brussels accuses the app of endangering users’ health. TikTok faces a heavy fine.
The “rabbit hole” effect – the descent into an information spiral – is leading to a new clash between the EU and TikTok. Brussels accuses the app of endangering users’ health. TikTok faces a heavy fine.
According to preliminary research findings by the European Commission, TikTok puts its users at risk through video recommendations on its platform. The company could face a penalty, as its algorithm presents particularly vulnerable people with an endless stream of personalized videos, which can worsen mental health problems, the authority in Brussels announced. According to the Commission, the algorithm fosters the risk of addiction, as well as eating disorders and anxiety.
The European Commission accuses TikTok of not having sufficiently limited this risk. According to Brussels, the protective measures implemented so far have proven ineffective. Even the “Not interested” button is not enough to change the recommendations in the video feed, the Commission’s assessment states.
The focus of the procedure is especially the “For You” page, which aims to show users content matching their interests as quickly as possible. The European Commission is calling for changes to this feature, as it fears so-called “rabbit hole” effects (in Albanian: efekti i vrimës së lepurit or efekti i humbjes në spiralen e informacionit të përshkallëzuar).
This refers to a situation in which a person immerses themselves so deeply in a topic that they find it difficult to get out. The term refers to the main character of the book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, who falls down a rabbit hole and ends up in another world. According to critics, TikTok’s algorithm can push users to consume similar content over and over, drawing them ever deeper into the same topics.
Algorithms could theoretically recognize and exploit these behavioral patterns to keep users on a platform for as long as possible. The European Commission criticized that TikTok’s algorithm personalizes in this way even content that may be emotionally harmful, particularly endangering children and young people.
“This mechanism can be harmful when endlessly repeated content relates, for example, to sadness, loneliness or body image”, the European Commission assessed. According to it, continuous exposure to such videos can reinforce existing psychological problems and negatively affect users’ mental well-being.
According to the requirements, the algorithm should no longer be based on the time users spend watching a video. Instead, users should be given more control over the content shown on the “For You” page, enabling them to define more clearly what they want to see on TikTok. The goal is for users not to be guided solely by the algorithm’s automatic recommendations, but to have greater influence over which content is shown to them./DW/