TikTok’s algorithm will be optional in Europe
TikTok’s algorithm will be optional in Europe
Non-personalized feeds will just recommend generic popular videos.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
TikTok users in Europe will be able to switch off the personalized algorithm behind its For You and Live feeds as the company makes changes to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
According to TikTok, disabling this function will show users “popular videos from both the places where they live and around the world” instead of content based on their personal interests.
To comply, TikTok’s search feature will also show content that’s popular in the user’s region, and videos under the “Following” and “Friends” feeds will be displayed in chronological order when a non-personalized view is selected.
Another change is that European users between the ages of 13 and 17 automatically won’t be targeted with personalized ads based on their online activities, rather than having to opt out with a toggle.
TikTok is one of 19 companies beholden to the DSA’s rules — alongside other services like YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter (which Elon Musk is currently rebranding to X) — so it likely won’t be the only platform to make similar changes in Europe.
TikTok hasn’t provided a release date for any of these changes, but it says that it’s aiming to meet the required obligations by the DSA’s deadline of August 28th.
I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Does it say the company will NOT track your views, or just that you will not be shown content based on tracking?
Instagram has an option to "disable" personal recommendations for 30 days, but it only pushes them to the end of your feed
But that’s the whole point of TikTok.
Yeah, their algo is fun most of the time but it's easy to fall into a bubble and detach from reality. It's also quite transparent how often you're subjected to annoying A/B testing. I'm glad this is happening because it gives users ability to see general view and get more control over their experience.
EU comes to the rescue again.
Interesting
While a step in the right direction, the issue is that this option will most likely be opt-out instead of opt-in and hidden deep in the settings. And we all know most people don't bother with changing settings.
TikTok is absolutely scummy in how they nag you for access rights to phone features / data but I don't think there's a way to do this without adding third "Popular" tab next to Following and For You.
If they had this as a setting then it'd have to stay this way. Industry standard is to withhold such setting and constantly default to algorithmic page in the attempt to trap you there or make you tired of switching feed constantly.