The European Union is considering a proposal that would force tech companies to make their apps less addictive.
Member of the European Parliament Kim van Sparrentak has brought forward the initiative in an effort to protect consumers against the addictive elements of smartphone apps.
The draft report states that many online services are designed to keep users on the platform as much as possible, which seems to be working as 16-24 year olds on average spend about seven hours a day on the internet.
Another worrying development Ms van Sparrentak mentions in the draft report is that one in four children and young people display ‘problematic’ or ‘dysfunctional’ smartphone use.
Ms van Sparrentak told Dutch newspaper AD that the apps are hard to resist.
“No self-discipline can compete with the tricks of big tech companies, which employ armies of psychologists,” she said.
One of the most addictive design features in apps is called the “infinite scroll”. This means that users can keep scrolling through content continuously, with no end in sight.
The feature was initially designed for users to seamlessly scroll through posts and articles without having to reload different pages.
Most social media apps use infinite scrolling, including Facebook, Instagram, X, formerly Twitter, and LinkedIn.
The proposal also calls for a ‘digital right not to be disturbed’.
This means that all notifications would be turned off by default, making it less attractive for users to click on the countless notifications that keep them coming back to certain apps.
Never-ending auto-play is a relatively new element in social apps and can be found on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
People scroll through their social apps and a video automatically starts playing without being prompted, grabbing the user’s attention
The proposal also urges the European Commission to promote ethical designs of online services.
This includes warnings if you spend more than 15 or 30 minutes on a specific service.
Members of the European Parliament across the board have voiced their support for Ms van Sparrentak’s proposal.
“Everyone has kids or nephews, with whom they see it happen”, she told AD.
If the European Parliament approves the proposal, the European Commission will translate them into legal texts next year and then those will need to be approved by the parliament and the 27 member states.
(ABC)
