TikTok’s algorithm will be optional in Europe

August 5, 2023 3:09 AM

TikTok users in Europe will be able to see recommended ‘For You’ videos that don’t rely on tracking their online activity. “These changes relate to DSA rules that require very large online platforms to allow their users to opt out of receiving personalized content — which typically relies on tracking and profiling user activity — when viewing content recommendations. 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.”

Time for everyone else to invest in a VPN.

posted by Bottlecap (8 comments total)

I truly could not use TikTok without my algorithm - gotta stay in my bubble. I recently tried Douyin out of curiosity and it took an hour until I saw my first cat video - until that happened it was rough. But really - the algorithm is the point; unlike Instagram, it’s not a social network that I would want to use to keep up with friends. It’s something that you train and nurture. Though once I tried to find a tiktok I’d seen that was making fun of Lin Manuel Miranda and it decided that I liked Lin Manuel Miranda; my screen time dropped significantly until my algorithm got back on track.
posted by catcafe at 3:52 AM on August 5, 2023 [5 favorites]

Sounds like a form of malicious compliance. The recommendation algorithm is one of TikTok's signature product features, a key part of why so many people like it. "Other people in Texas like these videos" is not terribly compelling. And while I generally prefer chronological feeds for my social media, because I carefully select a list of people to follow, TikTok really seems centered on the algorithm.

This is the irony of personalized media. When it really works it really can make a better experience for you. But it requires building a personal profile which is then used for aggressive advertising and creepy purposes. I love how the EU has been working to improve digital privacy. But sometimes it creates a situation worse for users, particularly when companies are doing the bare minimum to comply and not trying to make a better experience out of it. (See also: cookie consent popups.)
posted by Nelson at 7:29 AM on August 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

But sometimes it creates a situation worse for users

Switching it off is optional, not required. Really struggling to see how this state of affairs would be worse for anyone? If the algorithm is as important as you say, people just won’t use the feature much. (And other social media where this may be more relevant would, perhaps, be better if they have to make this change.)
posted by advil at 7:43 AM on August 5, 2023 [6 favorites]

if you want to see how bad the experience is, just use TikTok on the web, without logging in. the most banal, mainstream content.

i love how good TikTok is at showing me exactly what I like - and suggesting new content that is generally pretty spot on - but without that personalization i would never use it.
posted by carlodio at 7:48 AM on August 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

Sure, maybe folks just won't use it. But then that means there's no privacy preservation either. You could imagine a version with something like "use my profile solely to show me better videos and never share that data or use it anywhere else". But of course TikTok has no interest in doing that and I don't think EU laws could compel that.

Having the nice legally required option that sucks vs the hostile but functional option everyone actually picks is a common form of malicious compliance. Again see also cookie consent popups where your choices are "click here and move on with tracking" vs "click here and go through a complex form where you pick and choose your privacy violations". GDPR actually has a fairly nice solution for that second path, the CCPA compliant versions are much worse.
posted by Nelson at 7:48 AM on August 5, 2023 [6 favorites]

I'm fine with my viewing history on an individual website--and that alone--to be used as a basis for personalized recommendations.

But I fear the choice is going to be a broken experience or allowing the most invasive and predatory online tracking/profiling that's legal as long as you consent to it. There is no way these companies are going to present you with the option to give them an inch when what they want to take is a mile.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 9:29 AM on August 5, 2023 [2 favorites]

How does this preserve your privacy? You're still being tracked, you're just turning off the feature where the tracking data is actually used for your benefit.
posted by zixyer at 9:31 AM on August 5, 2023 [10 favorites]

I think zixyer is right.

There seems to be a lot of conflating of tracking and targetted advertising. People oversimplify and think of it as one thing instead of two. This is being reflected in the reporting too.

Doing away with the tracking-based recommendations doesn't do away with the tracking. On the one hand, this is an improvement because it makes it less likely that people will get trapped in personalised tar-pits of crackpottery, misinformation, and extremism. I think that's what the EU is aiming for here. On the other hand, it makes the fact that massive dossiers are being compiled and traded even more invisible to the general public.
posted by swr at 2:00 AM on August 6, 2023 [1 favorite]