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TikTok’s set to come under more scrutiny in Europe, as various EU nations consider broad-reaching restrictions to stop young people from being impacted by harmful social media trends, which could also lead to broader restrictions on social media access.
As reported by Politico, TikTok specifically is under fire on this front, due to concerns around the “SkinnyTok” trend.
The trend, which is often amplified by TikTok’s algorithm, sees youngsters sharing sometimes unrealistic body and diet goals.
As per Politico:
“SkinnyTok has become a hot spot for videos glamorizing rapid weight loss, “what I eat in a day” posts with dangerously low calorie counts, and body comparison clips, often served up automatically by TikTok’s recommendation system.”
The EU Commission is now exploring the potential impacts of this trend, which could result in further restrictions on the content that TikTok can amplify, and potentially, its actual algorithmic workings in this respect.
Which also comes as several EU nations lead a new charge to restrict kids from accessing social media apps.
A proposal, being led by Greece, would see the implementation of new restictions on access to social media apps, with kids under a certain age requiring parental consent to even log on to social apps.
That would significantly impact social media usage in EU nations, and would hurt TikTok and Snapchat specifically, with France pegging the age of restrictions as anyone under 16.
Which mirrors the Australian Government’s move to impose tougher restrictions on social media access, which will also stop under 16s from using social apps.
Again, it’s TikTok and Snapchat that would suffer most if this is implemented, with a significant portion of users in both apps falling below this age bracket.
Which will make things even more difficult for TikTok in EU.
The platform is already facing scrutiny over its data sharing process, and has been hit with big fines for transferring EU user data back to China. At the same time, TikTok also spent billions on systematic updates to separate EU user info, via the establishment of several new regional data centers.
Considering this expanded investment, any further restrictions on who can use the app, and how, would be a stinging blow, and could put TikTok’s EU future in jeopardy.
Though it’s also still fighting for survival in the U.S., and without America, TikTok would likely need Europe to remain viable, and maximize its remaining opportunities.