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EU charges TikTok over rabbit hole algorithm

· Fact-checked before it aired. Unconfirmed claims from this segment are not shown.

Al Jazeera reported that poor training and delayed responses leave Tanzania's smallholder farmers struggling to benefit from digital agriculture services such as M-Kilimo and e-Kilimo.

The EU has formally charged TikTok with breaching the Digital Services Act over its recommender system's "rabbit hole" effect, saying the platform fails to adequately mitigate risks such as harmful content related to mental health and body image. This is an opinion piece by Mike Pence in The Wall Street Journal, arguing for a conservative revival after Republican election losses.

The BBC reported that a Tanzanian opposition leader was found guilty of inciting unrest but acquitted of treason; he has been detained since April last year and says the charges are politically motivated.

The BBC reported that Kenyan doomsday cult leader Paul Mackenzie was given a life sentence for murdering 191 people after ordering followers to starve their children to death.

The BBC reported that two people, including a child and a young adult, died after a bus crash in France.

The BBC reported that a Russian extremist group denied sending hoax bomb threats that affected scores of flights across Europe this week.

Fact-check

VERIFIED TRUE

Al Jazeera reported that poor training and delayed responses leave Tanzania's smallholder farmers struggling to benefit from digital agriculture services such as M-Kilimo and e-Kilimo.

'It is simply because we have not been given education' Poor training and delayed responses leave Tanzania’s smallholder farmers struggling to access useful market information to benefit from digital agriculture. 🔗 : https://t.co/d9u9c1j7BQ https://t.co/8vzOIpv9xo

Original post · Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish)

aljazeera.com NAMES: M-Kilimo = Tanzania's Ministry of Agriculture mobile service for market information and farming advice; e-Kilimo = Tanzanian government agr

VERIFIED TRUE

The EU has formally charged TikTok with breaching the Digital Services Act over its recommender system's "rabbit hole" effect, saying the platform fails to adequately mitigate risks such as harmful content related to mental health and body image. This is an opinion piece by Mike Pence in The Wall Street Journal, arguing for a conservative revival after Republican election losses.

EU charges TikTok over harmful algorithmic 'rabbit hole' effects https://t.co/xH5XwEUyrI

Original post · @Reuters

cnbc.com POST 2118720016249987082: NOCLAIM wsj.com NAMES: Mike Pence = former U.S. Vice President

VERIFIED TRUE

The BBC reported that a Tanzanian opposition leader was found guilty of inciting unrest but acquitted of treason; he has been detained since April last year and says the charges are politically motivated.

Tanzanian opposition leader found guilty of inciting unrest but acquitted of treason - The 58-year-old, who has been detained since April last year, says the charges are politically motivated.

Original post · the BBC

bbc.co.uk

VERIFIED TRUE

The BBC reported that Kenyan doomsday cult leader Paul Mackenzie was given a life sentence for murdering 191 people after ordering followers to starve their children to death.

Kenyan doomsday cult leader given life sentence for murdering 191 people - Paul Mackenzie ordered his followers to starve their children to death in a forest so they could "meet Jesus".

Original post · the BBC

bbc.co.uk

VERIFIED TRUE

The BBC reported that two people, including a child and a young adult, died after a bus crash in France.

Two dead after bus crashes in France, officials say - One child and one young adult were killed in the crash, local authorities say, with more injured.

Original post · the BBC

bbc.co.uk

VERIFIED TRUE

The BBC reported that a Russian extremist group denied sending hoax bomb threats that affected scores of flights across Europe this week.

Russian extremist group denies sending hoax bomb threats - Scores of flights across Europe have received bomb threats this week, but no explosives have been found so far.

Original post · the BBC

bbc.co.uk

Sources

What the hosts said

BReuters posted on X: the EU has formally charged TikTok over its recommendation algorithm's "rabbit hole" effect.
BSo now Brussels gets to decide what your feed should show?
BIt's more specific. The charge says TikTok fails to reduce risks to teen mental health and body image under the Digital Services Act.
BI understand the harm. But the EU's playbook is regulate first, ask questions later. They ruined cookie banners, and every website is a mess now.
BA cookie banner doesn't shape a fourteen-year-old's self-image. The algorithm shapes what millions of kids see next.
BSo you can't just shrug at that. How do you fix it without turning every platform into a government-approved feed?
BThe charge is not about politics. It names specific harms: eating disorder content, self-harm videos, body image. TikTok had years to address this and didn't.
BThey added parental controls, screen time limits, content filters. The EU wants perfect safety, and no platform can promise that.
BThat's the standard defense. We did something, so leave us alone. If the recommender is still pushing harmful stuff, it's not working.
BThen parents need to be involved, not a regulator in Brussels who's never met a teenager. I'm not saying TikTok is innocent. I'm saying this is a blunt instrument.
BA fine and a forced audit is blunt? That pressure is how other platforms finally added real protections for teens.
BThen make the audit public, and let parents see what the algorithm actually does. That I could support.
BThat's a good point. The EU should demand transparency, not just a fine.
BBut their track record says they'll fine first, explain later.
BAnd TikTok's track record says it'll stall until it's fined. That's why regulators exist.
BFine, I'll give you that, reluctantly. But if I have to upload a driver's license to watch cooking videos, I'm blaming you.
BNoted. Different world entirely. Bella, you have something out of Tanzania.
BThe BBC is reporting that a Tanzanian opposition leader has been found guilty of inciting unrest, but acquitted of treason.
BA split verdict. Incitement but not treason—what does that actually leave him with?
BHe's 58 and has been detained since April of last year. He says the charges are politically motivated.
BThat's a long time behind bars before a verdict. It tells you the system moves at its own pace when it wants to.
BThe treason acquittal lets the government say the courts are independent. The incitement conviction keeps him locked up. It's a terrible middle.
BThat's not middle ground. That's having it both ways: claim fairness while silencing an opponent.
BExactly. And it sends a message to every other opposition figure in Tanzania.
BIt's also a pattern. Opposition figures held for years on charges that look political.
BThe charges come with a heavy cost long before any conviction. A year in detention is the punishment, even if acquitted later.
BThat's the real problem. The process itself is the punishment.
BAnd the verdict split doesn't fix that.
BAnd it makes you wonder what "acquitted" is worth when you've already lost a year.
BThat's the point. The acquittal is real on paper, but the damage is done.
BStill in Tanzania, but a very different problem.
BWhat's that?
BAl Jazeera English posted on X that poor training and delayed responses leave smallholder farmers struggling to use digital agriculture tools.
BThe government builds apps, but nobody teaches farmers how to use them. That's a gap.
BExactly. If market information arrives late, the tool is just a number on a phone.
BYou can't just build the platform and walk away.
BRight. For a farmer, a missed price alert can mean selling too low.
BOne more difficult story, this time from Gaza.
BGo ahead.
BAl Jazeera English posted on X that medical sources say Israeli gunfire killed a 15-year-old in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis.
BThis is according to medical sources, so no independent confirmation yet. But if it's accurate, that's another child killed in the fighting.
BNo Israeli military comment in that post. We'll keep watching for confirmation.
BThat's what stays with me—civilians in the south keep being caught in the same areas.
BAnd every report like this makes it harder to see how civilians are being protected.
BFor now, that's what Al Jazeera is reporting. We'll update if and when Israel responds.
BFair enough. Let's see where the story goes from here.
BWe'll stay on it.

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