European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated in Copenhagen on the 12th that the European Union is planning to introduce a new legal framework aimed at protecting minors from "addictive design" on social media platforms such as TikTok, Meta, and X (formerly Twitter). This move signals a further escalation in the EU's regulatory efforts against multinational tech giants.
Von der Leyen revealed that the European Commission intends to formally submit a draft of the Digital Fairness Act (DFA) by the end of this year. The bill will explicitly prohibit digital platforms from employing manipulative tactics, addictive features, and misleading influencer marketing practices.
When discussing the dangers social media poses to young people, von der Leyen pointed out that the business models of certain platforms treat minors' attention as a "commodity," leading to rapidly spreading risks such as sleep deprivation, depression, anxiety, cyberbullying, and self-harm. She emphasized, "The question is not whether young people should be on social media, but whether social media should be on young people in this way."
Regarding specific regulatory measures, von der Leyen reiterated that the EU is taking action against TikTok's addictive features, such as "infinite scroll," autoplay, and push notifications. Simultaneously, she criticized Meta's Instagram and Facebook for failing to effectively enforce their own minimum age requirement of 13. Furthermore, the European Commission may propose recommendations on minimum age restrictions for platform access this summer.
It is understood that the proposed Digital Fairness Act will serve to strengthen and supplement the existing EU Digital Services Act (DSA). Currently, the European Commission has initiated several investigations into TikTok, X, and Meta under the DSA. Among these, the X platform is facing severe scrutiny due to the risk of disseminating non-compliant images potentially triggered by its deployment of the AI chatbot Grok.
At present, strengthening social media regulation has become an international consensus. In addition to the EU, countries such as France, the UK, Norway, and Turkey are also reviewing or implementing related legislation to restrict excessive social media use by minors. Analysts note that as the European legal framework continues to improve, the operational models of global tech giants in the European market will face fundamental adjustments.
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