'This non-stop scrolling basically puts the brain into autopilot' - Leitrim councillor

The European Commission has accused TikTok of creating an "addictive design" in its app which could harm the physical and mental wellbeing of minors and vulnerable adults.

It said the platform had been guilty of "multiple" violations of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA).

The commission said the addictive design included infinite scroll features, autoplay, push notifications, and a highly personalised "recommender system", which uses AI to predict the preferences or ratings a user would give a product.

Officials said the recommender system was designed only to increase time spent on the app, and not to take account of negative experiences that a teenage user might have.

Speaking about the app, Leitrim Councillor James Gilmartin said: "I'm glad to see the European Commission holding apps like TikTok to account and it's something I'd be aware of as well. This non-stop scrolling on it basically puts the brain into autopilot and especially for kids aged 12-15, there are a lot of concerns around it - well-being, sleep, the rabbit-hole effect. For kids, that is extremely concerning."

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Cllr Gilmartin added that the content that is pushed is usually just a few seconds long which leaves the viewer constantly seeking more. "It's comparably to a drug in the sense that, you get your dopamine hit every time but in the long-run, when you come off it, it leaves you deflated and looking to go back on it again. I'm in full agreement with what the European Commission said."

In a statement, the commission claimed TikTok "did not adequately assess how these addictive features could harm the physical and mental wellbeing of its users, including minors and vulnerable adults."

The tech firm had also "disregarded important indicators of compulsive use of the app, such as the time that minors spend on TikTok at night, the frequency with which users open the app, and other potential indicators."

TikTok could face a fine worth up to 6% of its global annual turnover.

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Cllr Gilmartin commented: "It's about making them accountable and all of these social media platforms like Grok, X and Facebook need to be held to account. The Commission said there should be mandatory screen limits which is good lockouts at night to avoid sleep deprivation but the best lockout of all it to leave the phone somewhere else. We've becoming so accustomed to having it beside us and that's not great."

Cllr Gilmartin concluded: "I heard someone describing the way people scroll on social media as 'We are drowning in in information because we are thirsty for knowledge' so while you are thirsty for the knowledge, you are completely overwhelmed with the amount of stuff."