In Europe the For You Page is about to be a little less for you.
TikTok is rolling out the option for users in Europe opt out from its personalized algorithm-based feed. It’s one of several changes the social media company is making to comply with the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
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When users turn off personalized feeds, “For You and LIVE feeds will instead show popular videos from both the places where they live and around the world, rather than recommending content to them based on their personal interests,” according to a TikTok blog post. When using a non-personalized feed TikTok search results will show popular content in the user’s preferred language. Additionally, the Following and Friends feeds will be chronological.
The DSA requires “very large social media platforms” including TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to give users the option not to receive personalized recommendations. It also mandates that platforms are more transparent about content moderation, so TikTok will inform users about more content moderation decisions than it did previously.
The DSA also imposes a ban on advertising targeted at children, so users under 18 will no longer see personalized ads on TikTok.
TikTok aims to have these changes go into effect in Europe by the DSA’s deadline of August 28. But TikTok is not the only social media company this law will affect, so anticipate changes across the board in Europe.
