PRO pushing to ban addictive algorithms that keep you scrolling

PRO parliamentarian Barbara Kathmann is submitting a legislative proposal on Monday to ban harmful algorithms that keep you scrolling endlessly or lead to impulse purchases. She intends to classify online platforms’ manipulative design features as “unfair commercial practices,” which are already prohibited by law, NOS reports.

“As consumers, we deserve better protection,” Kathmann told the broadcaster. “This law aims to eliminate all the manipulative tactics that get us hooked, drive us to spend money, and cause us to spend far too much time online.”

Kathmann’s legislative proposal covers social media, games, dating apps, and chatbots. According to the MP, all these digital products incorporate tricks “that get us addicted and entice us to spend money, all so that a handful of tech billionaires can make a fortune.”

Current legislation primarily addresses physical products, but online platforms have “effectively become the new high street or marketplace,” the PRO MP said. “If a toy doll is unsafe, we pull it from the market.” She believes the same should apply to digital products. “If social media platforms are unsafe, they need to go back to the drawing board and be redesigned.”

The PRO MP thinks that European legislation would be more effective in addressing harmful algorithms, but “that process is taking too long.” She hopes that the Dutch proposal will spur the European Union into action, much like what happened when France proposed an age limit for social media platforms. She also pointed out that last year they succeeded in securing an algorithm-free option on Instagram and Facebook in the Netherlands.

Kathmann is working with parliamentarians in Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Italy, and Portugal, who also seek to regulate these algorithms through legislation.