Following the latest updates by the European Union’s executive commission, TikTok has raised the white flag and agreed to withdraw their rewards program from the EU. This step was taken in accordance with the EU’s comprehensive Digital Services Act, which vouches to implement a safe and accountable online environment across the 27 countries that come under EU. The act came into force in february, marking TikTok’s case the first resolution to be made.
What was the TikTok rewards program?
According to TikTok’s official website, the rewards program is a ‘token of appreciation’ from the company to their consumers. The users can earn rewards for inviting new users, watching videos under a certain time limit, etc. which can later be cashed in by linking your bank account to the TikTok account. Furthermore, when it comes to if there is a limit to the reward earned each day, the official website states that there is no limit except for some countries like Egypt, Morocco and Pakistan where users can only invite up to 100 new users every day.
Why did the EU ban it?
Alongside the rewards program, TikTok launched another version of their app known as TikTok Lite in EU countries of Spain and France. With the same TikTok rewards program in place in the EU countries, users reportedly could earn as much as one dollar every day by following the rules.
From what is understood, the EU commission opened an investigation on TikTok in April stating the company has not conducted a dologent assessment to check the addictive effect of the program. The EU further stated that the rewards program poses a threat to children as they can easily get addicted to a program like this given TikTok does not have an age verification feature. Additionally, the commission revealed that the rewards program can also violate Article 34 and Article 35 of their Digital Services Act as it was introduced without thorough evaluation. It was also stated that there were no effective measures put in place to mitigate these risks.
In the interest of the minors, the decision was taken to ban TikTok’s rewards program to which TikTok complied and announced the withdrawal.
What now?
Complying to the authorities, TikTok has announced the withdrawal of the rewards program from EU countries. However, its stance on withdrawal from other countries remains a question.
The EU commission is seen to be putting its foot down on the social media giants with its latest regulatory measures, as it is seen being successful with TikTok while going behind Meta for their ‘Pay or Consent’ Model.