EU Wants to Crack Down on Social Network Design
The European Union is preparing new rules to protect children from the addictive elements of social networks such as TikTok, Meta and X. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that digital platforms are deliberately using business models built on capturing the attention of young users.
During a speech in Copenhagen, von der Leyen warned of the growing risks of the digital environment, including depression, anxiety, self-harm, cyberbullying and suicide. According to her, these are not accidental consequences of social networks, but the result of their design.
The European Commission wants to address the issue through the forthcoming Digital Fairness Act, which it plans to introduce at the end of the year. The new regulation is to focus in particular on endless scrolling of content, autoplaying videos and notifications that encourage dependency on apps.
The Commission chief also supported the idea of a minimum age for access to social networks. The proposal could be developed over the summer based on expert recommendations.
The European Union is already investigating TikTok, X and Meta for suspected infringements under the current Digital Services Act. The proceedings also concern the use of the artificial intelligence chatbot Grok to create sexual images of women and children.