(Bloomberg) -- The European Union closed a case against ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok after the Chinese social media giant pulled a controversial feature that regulators warned could be addictive for children.
The bloc’s executive arm said ByteDance committed to permanently withdraw its controversial rewards program on its Lite app from the EU to comply with the bloc’s tough new Digital Services Act.
TikTok also pledged not to launch any other program rewarding screen time and carrying risks of addiction for users, which would circumvent the withdrawal.
“The available brain time of young Europeans is not a currency for social media — and it never will be,” Thierry Breton, the EU’s commissioner for the internal market, said in an emailed statement. “We have obtained the permanent withdrawal” of the program, “which could have had very addictive consequences. The DSA effect kicks in.”
TikTok is coming under scrutiny across the world as its influence grows and amid fears over its Chinese origins. US President Joe Biden signed bipartisan legislation in April aimed at banning the video-sharing app in the US unless its Chinese owner cedes control. That legislation breezed through both chambers of Congress, and ultimately led to TikTok challenging the legality of the bill.
The TikTok Lite rewards program allowed users to earn points by watching videos, liking content, following creators and inviting friends to join the platform. It was made available in France and Spain.
Monday’s move is the first case the Brussels-based European Commission has closed under the DSA. The executive has formal proceedings open against X, Meta Platforms Inc. and Chinese e-commerce giant AliExpress under the law in force since almost a year ago, which lays out content rules for social media platforms, online market places and app stores.
TikTok said it always seeks to engage constructively with the commission and other regulators and has “now withdrawn” the program that it “had already voluntarily suspended.”
Another case against TikTok remain open as the investigation continues. That focuses on the assessment of future negative effects that may stimulate addictions or create so-called rabbit-hole effects.
(Updates with company comment in eighth paragraph)
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