BRUSSELS, April 17 (Reuters) - ByteDance's TikTok has been given 24 hours to provide a risk assessment on its new app TikTok Lite launched this month in France and Spain because of concerns about its potential impact on children and users' mental health, the European Commission said on Wednesday.
The Commission pointed to the potential impact of the new "Task and Reward Lite" programme on the protection of minors, as well as on the mental health of users, in particular in relation to the potential stimulation of addictive behaviour.
TikTok Lite, aimed at users aged 18+, has a "Reward Program" that allows them to earn points while performing certain tasks on the platform such as watching videos, liking content, following creators or inviting friends to join.
These points can be exchanged for rewards such as Amazon vouchers, gift cards via PayPal, or TikTok’s coins currency that can be spent on tipping creators.
The Commission said TikTok must provide the risk assessment for TikTok Lite in 24 hours and the other requested information by April 26, after which the Commission will analyse TikTok's reply, and then assess next steps.