Before we start checking who’s old enough to scroll, we should ask why scrolling is so hard to stop
EDRi skriver på Linkedin :
Age verification is having a moment in Brussels. But before we start checking who’s old enough to scroll, we should ask why scrolling is so hard to stop. Our member D3 has brought the first class-action lawsuits of their kind in the EU against Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube over what it describes as “addictive design”.
The cases challenge features such as infinite scrolling, autoplay, persistent notifications, personalised algorithmic recommendations and gamification, all designed to keep us engaged for longer
And yes, children and young people may be particularly vulnerable to these features, but the attention economy has all of us in its sights.
The EU must seize the opportunity to tackle the business models and design practices that exploit vulnerabilities and manipulate behaviour, rather than simply asking users, parents or children to navigate around them.
Age-gating an unsafe environment doesn’t make the environment safe. With the #DFA, EU lawmakers have an opportunity to build a digital space designed not to exploit anyone’s attention in the first place.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dfa-share-7505181538158919680-l3JB/
EDRi linker så til D3's egen side "D3 files the first class-action lawsuits in Europe over ‘addictive design’ against Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube"
Vigtige kommetarer (på Linkedin)
Jan Leindals :
There are already rules on age limits and the protection of children online. The problem is not a lack of rules, but a lack of enforcement.
ICCL makes another important point: it argues that Ireland, as EU Council President, should stay out of EU digital policy matters during its presidency due to a conflict of interest.
The biggest problem is a business model where users pay with their personal data, attention and behavioural data. This conflicts with the principles of the GDPR.
Age verification can give tech companies even more data, even though they can already estimate age from the many data points collected today.
The US shows that tech giants can face tough enforcement. Meta has reached a multibillion-dollar settlement with US states over allegations concerning the harmful effects of children and young people's use of Meta's platforms. At the same time, the US has required TikTok's US data to be handled under American control, strengthening US data sovereignty.
China has chosen a different model. TikTok does not exist as TikTok in the Chinese market and Meta's services are blocked.
The EU is losing more and more digital and data sovereignty. The six horsemen of the digital apocalypse are already here!
Joop B:
Age verification only treats the symptom but it doesn't tackle the underlying cause. Addictive platform design, endless scrolling and personalised feeds make social media apps so hard to put down. It affects both children and adults. High time we do something about the cause, not the effect.
European Digital Rights (EDRi):
Read our recommendations for an ambitious, far-reaching Digital Fairness Act that addresses the underlying platforms' architecture of manipulation and exploitation https://edri.org/our-work/breaking-the-extractive-digital-business-model-a-rights-based-digital-fairness-act/