Tiktok accedes to EU demand to withdraw Lite Rewards
Tiktok social media - Photo by cottonbro on Pexels
(BRUSSELS) - Chinese video hosting service TikTok commited Monday to permanently withdraw its 'Lite Rewards' programme from the EU, in order to comply with the EU's Digital Services Act.
TikTok Lite is a separate version of the TikTok app. Following its launch in Spain and France in April 2024, the Commission expressed concerns regarding the TikTok Lite Rewards programme, which allowed users to earn points while performing certain 'Tasks' on TikTok Lite, such as watching videos, liking content, following creators, inviting friends to join TikTok, etc.
The EU Commission had made binding TikTok's commitments to permanently withdraw TikTok Lite Rewards programme from the EU. The commitments have been submitted by TikTok to address the concerns raised by the Commission in formal proceedings that were opened against TikTok on 22 April and ensure compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The platform has made the following commitments:
- A commitment to withdraw the TikTok Lite Rewards programme from the EU, permanently;
- A commitment not to launch any other programme which would circumvent the withdrawal.
The decision makes these commitments legally binding, and thgis merans that any breach of the commitments would immediately amount to a breach of the DSA and could therefore lead to fines from the EU.
With the decision, the Commission now also closes the formal proceedings opened against TikTok on 22 April.
This is the first case that the EU executive has closed under the DSA, 105 days after the opening of the proceedings. This is also the first time that the Commission has accepted commitments from a designated online platform against which it had opened formal proceedings under the DSA.
The Commission says it will 'carefully monitor' TikTok's compliance with the binding commitments the platform has offered under article 71 of the DSA, as well as with its other obligations under the DSA.
The Commission also made the point that its first formal proceedings against TikTok, which were launched on 19 February, remain open and the investigation continues.
Summary note of the TikTok Lite opening decision