In Europe, the For You page is becoming a little less for you.
TikTok is rolling out an option for users in Europe to opt out of personalized, algorithm-based feeds. This is one of several changes social media companies are making to comply with the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA).
New EU law forces Meta and Google to reveal algorithmic secrets
According to a TikTok blog post, when users turn off personalized feeds, “For You and LIVE feeds will not recommend content based on your personal interests, but will instead be based on your location.” “and popular videos from around the world will be displayed.'' With a non-personalized feed, TikTok's search results show popular content in your preferred language. Additionally, your follow feed and friends feed will be chronological.
The DSA requires “very large social media platforms,” including TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, to give users the option to opt out of receiving personalized recommendations. It also requires platforms to be more transparent about content moderation, meaning TikTok will notify users more about content moderation decisions than before.
The DSA also prohibits advertising aimed at children, so users under 18 will no longer see personalized ads on TikTok.
TikTok aims to implement these changes in Europe by the DSA deadline of August 28th. However, TikTok is not the only social media company affected by the law, so changes are expected across Europe.
