BRUSSELS—Following the European Commission’s proposed Digital Fairness Act, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading think tank for science and technology policy, released the following statement from Patrick Grady, Head of European Tech:
The made-up category of ‘addictive design’ is incredibly misleading. As the EU’s own research points out, social media addiction is not a recognized disorder. It cannot be diagnosed.
The European Commission could not cite any clinical evidence that the features in this category cause addiction because such evidence does not exist and instead conflates addiction with attention and engagement. Defining addictive features as those leading to “compulsive” or “excessive” use only begs the question as to whether a whole swath of engaging media, from books to television, is addictive.
This is the latest example of a concerning trend in which EU officials are cosplaying product managers and legislating on vibes, rather than evidence. Trying to meddle with the design of platforms in this way will only lead to uncertainty in Europe’s digital economy, as well as arbitrary and inconsistent enforcement decisions.
Contact: Nicole Hinojosa, [email protected]
