EU cracks down on social media’s addictive design practices with new legislation

The European Union is determined to protect children from the addictive designs of social media, including X, Meta platforms, and TikTok by introducing new rules.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen slammed the tech giants for creating such harmful and addictive tactics that lead to increased health and mental risks among teenagers.

"Sleep deprivation, depression, anxiety, self-harm, addictive behaviour, cyberbullying, grooming, exploitation, suicide. Risks are multiplying fast," von ​der Leyen said in a speech in Copenhagen.

According to the EU chief, the new legislation will specifically hit back addictive and harmful design practices by introducing postulates in the Digital Fairness Act (DFA).

The act will be rolled out by the end of this year. Under DFA, the regulators will place strict limits on the use of AI in social media. The chief also supported the postulate of a minimum age for children to access social media.

The Digital Services Act is also playing an important role in safeguarding the young people, requiring the tech companies to do more to combat online abuse or else face the harsh penalty or fine.

Under the DSA, the EU is already investigating the major social media platforms, like X and Meta and urging them to enforce tougher child safety rules.

“We are taking action against TikTok and its addictive design, endless scrolling, autoplay ​and push notifications. The same applies to Meta, because we ​believe ⁠Instagram and Facebook are failing to enforce their own minimum age of 13," Von der Leyen said.