Overview
- The European Commission said on Friday, July 24, 2026 that its preliminary decision finds TikTok’s account defaults for minors make young users too discoverable and expose them to unwanted contact and cyberbullying.
- Brussels ordered TikTok to change defaults so minors’ content is visible only to accepted followers and to stop recommending minors’ posts on the platform’s For You feed.
- The Commission also found private accounts leave minors findable through follower and following lists and that profile pictures can be seen by non-users, which it says undermines child protection rules in the Digital Services Act.
- TikTok defended its settings, saying youth accounts include more than 50 preset privacy and safety features, and it can now inspect the Commission’s file and submit a formal response before any final ruling.
- The case builds on an earlier probe into TikTok’s recommendation design and could feed EU moves toward age-tiered rules for social media, with Brussels and experts discussing minimum-age limits and stricter protections.