EU charges TikTok over harmful algorithmic 'rabbit hole' effects, tells it to change 'For You' feed

European Union’s (EU) tech regulators charged social media platform TikTok on Friday with breaching the bloc’s online content rules, telling it to fix the so-called “rabbit hole” effect of its recommender system, which attracts users’ attention to a constant stream of similar videos. TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance risks a fine next year of up to six per cent of its global annual turnover unless it can resolve the issue, the regulators said. Social media companies are under pressure to modify their algorithms amid growing concerns worldwide that their platforms are contributing to a mental…