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[Text/Observer Network Wang Kaiwen] According to Reuters, the European Commission announced on August 5 local time that TikTok, a short video social platform owned by ByteDance, has promised to permanently withdraw the TikTok Lite reward program in the European Union.

The European Commission said in a press release that this was the first case concluded under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) and the first time it had accepted commitments from a designated online platform.

Screenshot of European Commission press release

TikTok Lite is similar to TikTok Lite, and its rewards program allows users to earn points by completing certain tasks on the platform, such as watching videos, liking content, following creators, or inviting friends to join. These points can be redeemed for rewards such as Amazon vouchers, PayPal gift cards, or TikTok coins.

In April this year, TikTok Lite, which was recently launched in Spain and France, was targeted by the European Union. Concerned that the reward program would stimulate addictive behavior and affect the mental health of users, especially minors, the European Commission announced on April 22 that it would initiate legal proceedings against TikTok under the Digital Services Act and launch an investigation into it.

Under the EU Digital Services Act, large online platforms must report potential risks to the EU before launching new features and take effective measures to address those risks.

A TikTok spokesperson said in April: "We are disappointed with the decision - the TikTok Lite rewards center is not available to users under 18 years old, and there is a daily limit on video viewing tasks. We will continue to discuss with the European Commission."

According to a press release issued by the European Commission on August 5, TikTok has made legally binding commitments, in addition to permanently withdrawing the TikTok Lite rewards program in the EU, it also promised not to launch any other plans to circumvent the withdrawal of the program.

The European Commission said any violation of the commitments would immediately be considered a violation of the Digital Services Act, resulting in fines.

With TikTok's commitment, the European Commission announced the end of the formal proceedings against TikTok on April 22 this year. Hong Kong's South China Morning Post quoted sources as saying that TikTok did not admit guilt in the case and was satisfied that the proceedings could be concluded in 105 days. If the case went to trial or a fine had to be imposed, the litigation process could be longer.

However, the EU said that another lawsuit it launched against TikTok on February 19 has not yet ended.

On February 19 this year, the European Commission announced the launch of formal litigation against TikTok under the Digital Services Act to investigate whether it had violated the law in areas related to the protection of minors, advertising transparency, researcher data access, addictive design and risk management of harmful content.

In addition to TikTok, the European Commission has previously launched investigations into platforms and companies such as the US social media X (formerly Twitter), Meta, a supplier of Facebook and Instagram, and AliExpress, a subsidiary of Alibaba.

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