TikTok Lite's points for watching videos: the 2024 decision that ended them in the EU for good

On August 5, 2024, in Brussels, the European Commission made legally binding TikTok's commitments to permanently withdraw the TikTok Lite Rewards program from the European Union, and closed the formal proceedings it had opened over the program on April 22. TikTok also committed not to launch any other program that would circumvent the withdrawal. The Commission said it was the first case it had closed under the Digital Services Act (DSA), 105 days after opening, and the first time it had accepted commitments from a designated online platform against which it had opened formal proceedings.

What TikTok Lite Rewards did

TikTok Lite is a separate version of the TikTok app. After its launch in France and Spain in April 2024, its rewards program, which the Commission's April release called the “Task and Reward Program,” let users earn points for tasks on the app such as watching videos, liking content, following creators and inviting friends to join TikTok.

The Commission's concern was that the program had been launched without a prior diligent assessment of its risks, in particular its addictive effect, and without effective measures to reduce them. It said the program might stimulate addictive behavior and could potentially harm users' physical and mental health, and it pointed to minors in particular, noting in April the suspected absence of effective age verification on TikTok.

Why the DSA applied

TikTok has been designated a very large online platform under the DSA since April 25, 2023. Such platforms must carry out a risk assessment and submit a report to the Commission before launching any new functionality likely to have a critical impact on systemic risks, and must take effective steps to mitigate the risks they identify.

The Commission had asked TikTok to provide the TikTok Lite risk assessment by April 18, 2024. When it did not arrive, the Commission opened proceedings on April 22 to examine possible breaches of Articles 34 and 35 of the DSA, compelled TikTok by decision to answer its questions, set April 23 as the new deadline for the report and announced its intention to impose interim measures suspending the rewards program in the EU. Missing the deadlines in a request for information by decision could, the Commission warned, bring fines of up to 1% of TikTok's total annual income or worldwide turnover and periodic penalties of up to 5% of its average daily income or worldwide annual turnover. On April 24, the Commission took note of TikTok's decision to suspend the program in the EU voluntarily.

What the commitments mean

Because the commitments are binding, the Commission said any breach would immediately amount to a breach of the DSA and could lead to fines. It said it would carefully monitor TikTok's compliance with them under Article 71 of the DSA, as well as with its other obligations under the law. The April release had stressed that opening proceedings did not prejudge the outcome; by our reading, because the case was closed on commitments, the Commission did not rule on whether TikTok had breached Articles 34 and 35.

In the August 2024 release, Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said design features on platforms “with addictive effects put the well-being of their users at risk.” Commissioner Thierry Breton said: “The available brain time of young Europeans is not a currency for social media.”

The decision did not settle TikTok's other DSA case. The first formal proceedings against TikTok, opened on February 19, 2024, which the April release said already covered age verification and suspected addictive design, stayed open, and the Commission said that investigation would continue.

What applies now

The Commission's list of DSA enforcement actions, checked on November 13, 2026, still records the decision of August 5, 2024, accepting binding commitments, with no later step concerning TikTok Lite. TikTok remains on the list as a very large online platform, with 135.9 million average monthly active users in the EU as reported by the company.

The same list shows the Commission has kept acting on other TikTok matters since 2024, including accepting separate commitments on December 5, 2025, and issuing preliminary findings on several dates, most recently November 6, 2026. The EU's proposed rules on children's accounts are covered in our explainer on the KIDS Act proposal.