The EU determines that TikTok does not protect minors’ accounts well and could fine it 6% of its turnover

The European Commission has sent TikTok its preliminary conclusions after a formal investigation, in which it considers that the configuration of minors’ accounts on the platform does not meet the security standards required by the Digital Services Law. The agency points out that these findings do not yet prejudge the final result of the procedure.

The main problem, according to Brussels, is that minors between 16 and 17 years old can configure their account as publicallowing any user, even without a TikTok account, to view your content. This option also makes it possible for minors’ posts to be recommended to other users through the section For youfurther expanding its exposure.

Risks of unwanted contact, even with private accounts

The Commission warns that this exposure may lead to unwanted contacts by potential attackers and at greater risk of cyberbullying, in addition to the fact that the published content can remain accessible for years and accompany the minor into adulthood. The problem does not completely disappear even if the minor configures his profile as private. As Brussels explains, these accounts can be easily located through other users’ follower lists, and the profile photo remains visible to anyone, whether or not they are registered on the platform.

Likewise, the agency considers that TikTok should adjust the configuration of minors’ public accounts by default, so that their content is only visible to users that the minor themselves have accepted, and that in no case should that content be accessible to audiences outside the platform. It also asks that children’s content be stopped from being recommended to other users through the For you.

TikTok will be able to respond before a possible sanction

Following these preliminary conclusions, TikTok now has the possibility of examine the file and respond in writingwhile the Commission consults in parallel with the European Digital Services Council. If the findings are finally confirmed, Brussels could issue a resolution of non-compliance with a fine that, according to the regulations, could never exceed the 6% of global annual turnover of the company.

This investigation, opened in February 2024, has already left other preliminary conclusions about TikTok, such as those related to the possible addictive design of the application, adopted in February of this same year, or to researchers’ access to public data, in October 2025. The part related to advertising transparency, on the other hand, was closed in December 2025 through binding commitments by the company. The Commission also maintains another line of investigation open into the so-called “burrow effect” of TikTok’s recommendation systems.

Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice President of Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, has stated that “minors deserve a safe experience from the moment they connect to the internet” and that, according to the DSA, “a high level of protection should not be optional, but the norm.”

A new chapter in EU regulatory pressure on large platforms

The TikTok case joins a series of recent actions by the European Commission against large technology companies. Just a few days before, Brussels imposed a fine of 550 million euros on AliExpress for failing to stop the sale of illegal and dangerous products on its platform. And in the same week, the agency fined Google 890 million euros for failing to comply with the Digital Markets Law, also giving the company a period of 60 days to modify its search engine.

These consecutive decisions confirm that the Commission keeps several regulatory fronts open simultaneously, all related to the Digital Services Law or the Digital Markets Law, against some of the platforms most used by European users. Of course, this offensive also has a geopolitical background, since most of these companies, which have achieved enormous power in different areas, come from the United States or China.