Alex Agius Saliba wants to introduce European legislation aimed at stopping addictive features like infinite scrolling and secretive algorithms on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
The PL MEP said he is discussing a potential law at the European Parliament’s internal market committee to address this issue.
“The idea is that endless scrolling becomes a banned design,” he said.
Should his initiative be met with approval, the committee will then be tasked to pressure the European Commission, the EU body that has the power to initiate the EU’s formal legislative procedure, Agius Saliba said.
“Spending hours watching continually suggested content is one of our biggest issues, especially for children,” the Labour MEP warned.
The proposal also seeks to increase transparency around the algorithms used by the social media platform, he said.
“Regarding dark patterns, we have no access to the algorithms that determine the content we are shown based on our searches.”
Last December, the European Parliament adopted a report that warned of the addictive nature of online games, social media, streaming services and online marketplaces, which exploit users’ vulnerabilities to capture their attention and monetise their data.
“Now in the internal market committee we are pushing a proposal so that we take back some control when it comes to these platforms which are looking to maximise the number of hours we spend on them,” Agius Saliba said.
Social media is important for people to communicate, pass on information and sell products, Agius Saliba said. But “we need to control the business model of these platforms” which promote sensational and addictive content.
Agius Saliba, who sits on the EP’s internal market committee, said he plans to question the European Commission vice-president for the internal market, Henna Virkkunen, about the issue during the upcoming commission hearing.
Spending hours watching continually suggested content is one of our biggest issues, especially for children
The MEP said the time taken up by social media addiction has “created problems for society’s most vulnerable groups, including children”.
Children are spending hours watching content instead of being physically active, doing volunteer work or focusing on their academic progress, he said.
Depression, self-harm and suicide are also increasing among young people in Europe, and much of this is related to how these platforms work, he added.
Agius Saliba said Malta’s nominated commissioner, Glenn Micallef, who has been given the youth portfolio, will also be involved in advancing legislation on this matter.
In the US, Senator Josh Hawley introduced a bill in 2019 proposing to limit features on social media that are considered addictive, such as infinite scroll and certain types of notifications, but it has not yet passed Congress.
Last month, New York passed a law that requires parental consent before children under the age of 18 use “addictive feeds” and prevents apps from sending notifications to young users between midnight and 6am.
Agius Saliba was speaking to Times of Malta following an event in Floriana organised by the EP office in Malta, CORE Platform and JCI Malta.