Dto Instagram, Netflix, online games: the European Parliament proposed a package of measures to combat digital addiction, an increasingly widespread phenomenon among young people. The die has been cast: now it is up to the European Commission to turn into a bill the requests of Parliament.
European Parliament against digital addiction
The impact of new technologies on the psychological, emotional and physical well-being of children and adolescents is very worrying. Both because they are struggling with the phase of life in which identity and relationships with the surrounding world are shaped, and because access to these technologies is truly excessive. Approximately 47% of young people between 11 and 19 years old spends over 5 hours a day online.
Scrolling under accusation
European parliamentarians focused in particular on the scrolling on social media, the typical infinite scrolling of content and the automatic playback of series and films on streaming platforms. A non-stop mode of use that creates addiction.
The European Parliament gives the green light to a series of measures to combat the pathological use of social media
Depression, anxiety, lack of sleep: digital addiction is not good for you
«Young people aged between 16 and 24 spend on average more than seven hours a day on the Internet, and one in four shows problematic use of smartphones similar to an addiction – writes Parliament in a note – Problematic use of smartphones or the Internet it has been linked to lower life satisfaction and mental health problems such as depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, lack of sleep and obsessive-compulsive behaviour, with children and young people the most vulnerable.”
A desired dependence on platforms
According to MEPs, the digital platforms in question are designed specifically to be addictive. For this reason, they say they are convinced that it is necessary «increase consumer protection through safer alternatives, even if these turn out to be less profitable for social media platforms.” In fact, digital addiction exists, they say, specifying however that the problem is not people. I am online services, such as games, social media, streaming sites and online marketplaces that are designed to keep us scrolling.
The proposals of the European Parliament
Among the proposals presented appears precisely the ban on infinite scrolling, defined as a harmful technique, but also the ban, for example, on “recommended” content from streaming platforms based on user behavior. And again, it stop notifications which arrive at the recipient without the latter having to carry out a download operation. Parliament then proposes the introduction of a law against designing algorithms designed to be addictive and a list of good practices for those designing platforms.
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