The European Commission is launching proceedings against the Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta on suspicion of child protection violations. There are fears that the design of the services, including their algorithms, could cause addictive behavior in children, the Brussels authority announced on Thursday.
There is a particular fear of so-called rabbit hole effects. What this means is that you get so deeply lost in a subject that you can’t find your way out – similar to how the main character in the story Alice in Wonderland gets lost down a rabbit hole. Algorithms – to put it simply, instructions for computers written by humans – can theoretically recognize and exploit such behavior patterns so that users spend more time on a platform.
A new EU law on digital services (DSA) requires, among other things, that online platforms offer special protection to minors. It prohibits targeting them with ads based on personal information. There is also a need to assess and limit the risks that exploit the weaknesses and inexperience of minors and cause addictive behavior.
The Commission doubts whether Meta adequately complies with these rules regarding the protection of minors. The company’s age verification methods are also a cause for concern. These may not be effective.
The committee now wants to continue collecting evidence, for example through interviews. When starting the procedure, only a suspicion is considered; the outcome has not yet been determined.
Not the first procedure
The committee had already started proceedings against Meta at the end of April. This concerns the suspicion that the company has not complied with the DSA when it comes to political advertising. The law requires platforms not only to adhere to stricter rules to protect minors, but also to take faster and sharper action than before against illegal content such as hate and hate speech online. Otherwise they risk high fines. In principle, large services such as Facebook or Tiktok must comply with more rules than small ones.
There is already a procedure underway against the online platform TikTok and the short message service X (formerly Twitter). Tiktok is investigating whether the Chinese company endangers the mental health of minors with its app version Tiktok Lite. After reports of illegal and misleading contributions to the Islamist Hamas attack on Israel, X was sent a list of questions, which the company apparently did not answer to the satisfaction of the European Commission. Proceedings against X were initiated in mid-December.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
