Italy's competition authority fined TikTok 10 million euros over its recommendation algorithm: the 'French scar' challenge, algorithmic profiling of minors, and three ByteDance companies fined in solido in 2024

Verification status: CHECKING — every figure is quoted verbatim from the AGCM’s own press release and independent press (TechCrunch, Silicon Republic). Not yet a green badge; the checker grades it.

The problem

The complaint was not about a single video but about the machine that decides which videos a user sees. Italy’s competition and consumer-protection authority, the AGCM, opened its case after content such as the “French scar” challenge spread on the platform, a trend Silicon Republic described as one that “involves pinching one’s cheeks long and hard enough to leave a lasting bruise on the cheekbone” (source). The authority’s central concern was the recommendation system itself: the AGCM found that TikTok “failed to implement appropriate mechanisms to monitor content published on the platform, particularly those that may threaten the safety of minors and vulnerable individuals” (source). In its own words, the regulator held TikTok responsible for spreading content “suscettibili di minacciare la sicurezza psico-fisica degli utenti, specialmente se minori e vulnerabili” (likely to threaten the psycho-physical safety of users, especially minors and vulnerable people) (source).

What was built

The system under scrutiny was TikTok’s content recommendation engine. The AGCM described how the potentially dangerous content “sono diffusi tramite un ‘sistema di raccomandazione’ basato sulla profilazione algoritmica dell’utenza, che seleziona costantemente quali video destinare a ciascun consumatore nelle sezioni denominate ‘Per Te’ e ‘Seguiti’, con l’obiettivo di aumentare le interazioni tra utenti e il tempo speso sulla piattaforma così da accrescere la redditività degli introiti pubblicitari” (disseminated through a “recommendation system” based on algorithmic profiling of users, which constantly selects which videos to send to each consumer in the sections called “Per Te” and “Seguiti”, with the aim of increasing interactions between users and time spent on the platform so as to raise the profitability of advertising revenue) (source). Independent technology press restated the mechanism: the AGCM wrote that “this content is systematically re-proposed to users as a result of their algorithmic profiling, stimulating an ever-increasing use of the social network” (source). The regulator also found the platform’s own safeguards fell short: TikTok “non ha assunto misure adeguate ad evitare la diffusione di tali contenuti, non rispettando pienamente le Linee Guida di cui si è dotata” (did not adopt adequate measures to prevent the dissemination of such content, not fully respecting the Guidelines it had adopted) (source).

The outcome

The penalty was substantial and was applied across the corporate group. The AGCM stated that it “ha irrogato una sanzione di 10 milioni di euro in solido a tre società del gruppo Bytedance Ltd, ovvero l’irlandese TikTok Technology Limited, la britannica TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited e l’italiana TikTok Italy Srl” (imposed a fine of 10 million euros, jointly and severally, on three companies of the Bytedance Ltd group: the Irish TikTok Technology Limited, the British TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited and the Italian TikTok Italy Srl) (source). Independent press carried the same figure the same day: TechCrunch reported that “Italy’s competition and consumer authority, the AGCM, has fined TikTok €10 million following a probe into algorithmic safety concerns” (source), and Silicon Republic carried the same figure, headlining its 14 Mar 2024 coverage “TikTok fined €10m in Italy over ‘French scar’ challenge videos” (source).

TikTok disputed the ruling, and its rebuttal is part of the record. The company said the “‘French Scar’ content averaged just 100 daily searches in Italy prior to the AGCM’s announcement last year, and we long ago restricted visibility of this content to U18s, and also made it ineligible for the For You feed” (source).

Weakest load-bearing source. The one figure that rests on a single source is TikTok’s own “100 daily searches” claim, which is the subject’s disputed characterisation of the trend’s scale, quoted via TechCrunch rather than independently measured; it is presented here as TikTok’s contention, not as an established fact, and nothing in the outcome depends on it. Every finding that carries the story, the 10 million euro fine, the three fined entities, the recommendation-algorithm mechanism, and the inadequate-controls conclusion, comes from the AGCM’s own press release (the enforcing regulator, independent of TikTok) and is independently corroborated by TechCrunch and Silicon Republic. The AGCM’s live page is bot-blocked to automated fetchers, so its text is quoted from the Wayback Machine snapshot saved to sources/. No confirmation was sought from TikTok; the AGCM record is used only as an already-public official document.

How this was verified. Method: every load-bearing figure is quoted verbatim from a source fetched and grepped this session and saved to sources/. The 10 million euro fine (in solido across TikTok Technology Limited, TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited and TikTok Italy Srl), the “sistema di raccomandazione” based on “profilazione algoritmica” feeding the “Per Te” and “Seguiti” sections, the “cicatrice francese” challenge, and the finding that TikTok did not adopt adequate measures are quoted from the AGCM press release PS12543, “Sanzionata TikTok per pratica commerciale scorretta”, dated Roma, 14 marzo 2024 (Tier 1, the enforcing regulator, independent of the subject; live page bot-blocked, quoted from Wayback 20251016164802, saved to sources/agcm-ps12543-2024-03-14.html). The 10 million euro figure, the algorithmic-profiling framing and the inadequate-controls finding are independently corroborated by TechCrunch, “Italy fines TikTok €10M over ‘French scar’ challenge, algorithmic safety” (14 March 2024, Tier 2; saved to sources/techcrunch-2024-03-14.html, Wayback 20260902064946), and the fine amount and date and the French-scar description by Silicon Republic (14 March 2024, Tier 2; saved to sources/siliconrepublic-2024-03-14.html, Wayback 20241214220405). TikTok’s “100 daily searches” rebuttal is its own statement, quoted via TechCrunch and labelled as the subject’s disputed contention. No confirmation was sought from TikTok. Checked 2026-09-02 (checking round 1).

Related case files

• The Justice Department made Meta rebuild its ad algorithm after the first Fair Housing Act algorithmic-bias case — the closest analogue: a national regulator holding a social platform’s ad/delivery algorithm, not just its content, responsible for harm and imposing a remedy.
• TikTok’s own automated moderation removed 144m of 179m videos, 98.2% proactively, in Q2 2024 — the same platform’s algorithm told from the other side, where TikTok narrates its moderation metrics rather than a regulator finding the same system spread harm.
• YouTube’s automated flagging removed 6.7m of 8m videos in Q4 2017 — another platform’s algorithmic content system measured on volume, useful for comparing self-reported moderation scale against an adjudicated safety failure.
• Meta pulled its Instagram ‘Muse’ AI image feature within three days after a nonconsensual-imagery backlash — the same beat of a social platform’s AI feature drawing scrutiny over harm, resolved by a voluntary walk-back rather than a regulator’s fine.

Sources

1. Autorita Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) · PS12543 - Sanzionata TikTok per pratica commerciale scorretta · 14 March 2024 · https://www.agcm.it/media/comunicati-stampa/2024/3/PS12543- — Tier 1 (primary record from the enforcing regulator, independent of the subject TikTok; the 10 million euro fine in solido across three ByteDance entities, the “sistema di raccomandazione” based on “profilazione algoritmica” feeding the “Per Te” and “Seguiti” feeds, the “cicatrice francese” challenge, and the finding that TikTok did not adopt adequate measures; live page bot-blocked to fetchers, so quoted from Wayback 20251016164802, saved to sources/agcm-ps12543-2024-03-14.html).
2. TechCrunch · Italy fines TikTok €10M over ‘French scar’ challenge, algorithmic safety · 14 March 2024 · https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/14/tiktok-italy-french-scar-fine/ — Tier 2 (independent technology journalism; corroborates the 10 million euro fine, the algorithmic-profiling framing, the inadequate-controls finding, and carries TikTok’s “100 daily searches” rebuttal; saved to sources/techcrunch-2024-03-14.html, Wayback 20260902064946).
3. Silicon Republic · TikTok fined €10m in Italy over ‘French scar’ challenge videos · 14 March 2024 · https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/italy-tiktok-fine-french-scar-challenge-videos-safety-children-ceo-shou-chew — Tier 2 (independent technology journalism; corroborates the 10 million euro fine, the 14 March 2024 date, the algorithmic re-proposal framing, and the description of the French scar challenge; saved to sources/siliconrepublic-2024-03-14.html, Wayback 20241214220405).