ByteDance’s new platform, TikTok Lite, is in the spotlight of the European Commission, which is currently investigating whether the company complies with its obligations of transparency and protection of minors who use this service, which promotes the participation of users with a points and rewards system.
TikTok Lite is an app designed to accumulate points that can then be redeemed for rewards, which is only available to users aged 13 and up, with additional features available to those aged 18 and over.
This is what is indicated in the details section of the application, which is now available for download through the Apple App Store and Android Google Play. Months after being implemented in Japan and South Korea, it has now arrived in Europe in the testing phase. Specifically, to Spain and France.
This was announced a few days ago by The Information, which said that the platform – which was initially aimed at users of legal age – was testing an application in these two European countries that not even its parent company, ByteDance, has officially announced.
This medium pointed out that TikTok Lite had been born as a free service known internally as Coin App (translated as ‘currency application’) that offers financial incentives to users for watching videos and interacting with them on TikTok.
HOW DOES IT WORK
Specifically, TikTok Lite encourages users to view content, invite their friends and other contacts to register and perform other actions, offering them points in exchange to be able to exchange them for gift cards or “tips for creators”, according to a document to which the aforementioned media had access.
This TikTok extension is distinguished from the main application by its logo, as it introduces the graphic of a small white lightning bolt, located in the upper left part of the image.
When you open the app and log in with an existing account, the so-called Rewards Center is displayed, which indicates the steps that users must take to start earning points. For example, logging in for ten days in a row awards 3,000 points, while ‘Liking’ three videos on the platform allows you to obtain up to 80 points.
Inviting a new friend to TikTok Lite is another new way to get points – up to 90,000 in this case – as well as follow other creators. Just for following three of them, the Chinese company gives 80 points to its users.
On the platform there is also a section that reflects the balance of each account, which can be exchanged for gift cards for platforms such as Amazon or via PayPal. Likewise, it exposes the option of reward creators on the social network.
INVESTIGATED BY THE EU
This Wednesday, the European Commission announced that it is investigating this platform in order to know the impact of TikTok Lite among minors and How the company has worked to mitigate risks to which they are exposed.
It has done so within the framework of the new Digital Services Act (DSA), which forces large platforms to carry out impact assessments before implementing new services in the European Union.
TikTok has until next time April 26 to provide detailed information about the impact of TikTok Lite and how it protects minors from addictive behaviors that could result from its use.