TikTok has agreed to permanently withdraw a 'reward scheme' feature from its app in the European Union.
So-called TikTok Lite scheme rewarded users with vouchers for the amount of time spent using the video-sharing app, watching and engaging with content.
The European Commission said on Monday that the ByteDance-owned app had made a legally binding commitment to make such schemes unavailable within the EU as they contravene some rules under the Digital Services Act, aimed at tackling social media addiction.
European internal market commissioner Thierry Breton commented: “The available brain time of young Europeans is not a currency for social media - and it never will be.”
TikTok launched the rewards programme in France and Spain in April, with this being suspended shortly after as the commission opened a probe over fears of its impact on mental health.
According to the commission, TikTok would face fines were it to breach the fresh commitments.
This is as the company faces another investigation into whether it adequately protected teenagers online, including through the use of an allegedly addictive algorithm.
“TikTok is pleased to have reached an amicable resolution and has now withdrawn the TikTok Lite rewards program [...] which we had already voluntarily suspended,” a spokesperson said.