LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators mentioned Wednesday they’re in search of particulars from TikTok on a brand new app from the video sharing platform that pays customers to observe movies.
The European Fee mentioned it despatched TikTok a “request for data” on the TikTok Lite app that has been quietly launched in France and Spain.
The fee desires to know concerning the threat evaluation that TikTok ought to have carried out earlier than deploying the app within the European Union.
“We’ve already been in direct contact with the Fee concerning this product and can reply to the request for data,” TikTok mentioned in a press release.
Such evaluations are required beneath the bloc’s Digital Companies Act, a sweeping legislation that took impact final 12 months with the purpose of cleansing up social media platforms. The fee is the 27-nation bloc’s government arm and high enforcer of digital rules.
TikTok Lite lets customers “earn nice rewards,” based on its app retailer itemizing. The app, which launched this month in France and Spain, is a slimmed-down model of the principle TikTok app and doesn’t include ecommerce or livestreaming options.
The fee mentioned the app lets customers earn factors by doing issues like watching movies, liking content material and following content material creators. The factors might be exchanged for rewards together with Amazon vouchers and present playing cards on PayPal.
TikTok mentioned rewards are restricted to customers 18 years and older, who should confirm their age. Customers can watch as much as one hour a day of movies to earn rewards, that are capped on the equal of 1 euro ($1.06) a day, it mentioned.
TikTok has 24 hours to show over the chance evaluation. The fee is concerned with what it says concerning the app’s potential influence on the safety of minors, “in addition to on the psychological well being of customers, particularly in relation to the potential stimulation of addictive behaviour.”
It’s additionally in search of different data on the measures TikTok has put in place to mitigate such “systemic dangers,” which the corporate has till April 26 to supply.