26 Amendments of Alex AGIUS SALIBA related to 2023/2043(INI)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 a (new)
Citation 13 a (new)
– having regard to Article 24 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as elaborated in the UNCRC General Comment No. 25 as regards the digital environment,
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas in today’s attention-based economy, technology companies use design and system functionalities to take advantage of users’ and consumers' vulnerabilities in order to capture their attention and increase the amount of time they spend on digital platforms; whereas many digital services, such as online games, social media, streaming services for films, series or music, online marketplaces or web shops and dating apps are designed to keep users on the platform for as long as possible so as to maximise the data collected and the time and money they spend there; whereas consequently many online services are designed to be as addictive as possible; whereas the terms ‘manipulative design’, ‘addictive design’ or ‘behavioural design’ of online services describe features that lead to behaviour- related risks and harms, including forms of digital addiction, such as, ‘excessive or harmful internet use’, ‘smartphone addiction’, ‘technological or internet addiction’, ‘social media addiction’; whereas there is a growing consensus among academics that phenomena, such as ‘social media addiction’ exist;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas with all the improvements that technology has brought into the lives of individuals, sophisticated use of data and AI technologies and the continuous exposure to monetisation-driven algorithms have already been seen to have harmful consequences affecting consumers’ online behaviour, exposing their ever-weaker position and reducing consumers and citizens’ trust in markets and democratic societies; whereas social media platforms must take steps to give back autonomy to the users, respecting their wellbeing regardless of profitability considerations, and give regulators and researchers the necessary tools to analyse the effects of using these platforms;
Amendment 15 #
B. whereas 16-24 year-olds spend an average of over seven hours a day on the internet; whereas one in four children and young people display ‘problematic’ or ‘dysfunctional’ smartphone use, meaning behavioural patterns mirroring addiction; whereas research suggests that problematic smartphone use continues to rise; whereas research also suggests that the rise in mental health problems in adolescents might be related to excessive social media u and that many children rarely disconnect from social media and use it constantly throughout the day feeling insecure without their mobile phone; whereas research also suggests that the rise in mental health problems in adolescents might be related to excessive social media use and that social media pressure has been identified as one of the top five causes of mental health difficulties for children; whereas younger populations are more vulnerable to psychopathological developments, and harmful behaviours and mental health conditions established in childhood can shape the subsequent life course;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas internet-use-related addiction displays similar side effects to substance-related addictions, including evidence of tolerance and relapse; whereas strict regulation exists for addictive products, such as drugs, alcohol, tobacco and gambling to prevent addiction and protect consumers from harm; whereas problematic smartphone or internet use has been linked to lower life satisfaction and mental health symptoms such as depression, low self-esteem, body-image disorders, eating disorders, anxiety, high levels of perceived stress, neglect of family and friends, loss of self-control, lack of sleep and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, such as compulsive buying among young adults; whereas heavy users of digital media are twice as likely to have mental- health issues, including risk factors for suicide and self-harm; whereas children and young people are more vulnerable to these symptoms; whereas mental-health conditions established in childhood can shape an individual’s subsequent life course; whereas excessive internet use is associated with problems with daily obligations, declining grades, poor school and academic performance or poor job performance; whereas the prevalence of digital addictions and its association with symptoms of common mental disorders is a growing public health problem and as such, it should be a concern to policy makers; whereas further research should develop a consensus regarding the most appropriate diagnostic criteria and determine risk factors for different digital addictions.
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas all online services and products that are likely to be accessed by children should be designed with the best interests of the child as a primary consideration; whereas certain online addictive services and products can be highly risky, addictive, or otherwise harmful for children, including due to the combined impact of several features or their cumulative impact over time;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas addictive design can be seen to have a negative impact on everyone, not just individuals showing problematic usage patterns; whereas addictive design, especially of smartphones and social media, makes it hard to focus on the task in hand owing to distractions such as messages and notifications constantly disrupting peoples’ concentration, even at school or while driving; whereas the addictive design of online services leads to increased pressure to perform and social pressure to be permanently online and connected, increasing the risk of stress and burnout; whereas consumers online are increasingly confronted with an information overload and excessive sensorial stimuli throughout the day, constraining their cognitive ability, and user interfaces offer only limited control over their data; whereas the time people spend behind screens is time not spent being active, moving, being outside, or shutting down and relaxing, all of which are associated with physical and mental well-being and which are especially crucial for children’s development; whereas adolescents who spend a small amount of time on electronic communication are generally the happiest; whereas people that stop using social media for a week experience significant improvements in well-being;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas addictive design features are often linked to psychosocial patterns playing on consumers’ psychological needs, vulnerabilities and desires, such as social belonging, social anxiety, fear of missing out (encouraged by information being available only temporarily, such as ‘stories’, ‘is typing…’), network effects, the urge to finish tasks in a flow, even if interrupted (endless scrolling, taking a number of seconds to load yourflashes of high-relevance content that are immediately hidden as the newsfeed reloads) and loss of self-control; whereas design features can be addictive for different reasons, such as an intermittent variable reward, leading to a dopamine surge, just like the dynamics of slot machines, such as push notifications, or social reciprocity leading to chemical brain reactions, where on the one hand people receive social gratification, such as likes, and on the other hand people feel social pressure to respond to people, such as with read-receipts;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas modern-day data driven services place the consumer in a weaker position creating power imbalances and digital asymmetry resulting in a universal state of digital vulnerability that results from internal and external factors beyond the control of the consumer; whereas consumers are constantly facing AI that can easily detect and exploit their vulnerabilities and services regularly changing their choice architectures to maximise conversion rates and engagement; whereas this demonstrates that vulnerability must not be restricted to 'traditionally protected' groups but must include all consumers;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas the addictive design features outlined above cannot be solved simply by imposing time-limits on online services, as this approach shifts the burden onto the individual instead of addressing the core issue of the intentionally addictive design of online services for profit; whereas none of the ‘solutions’ platforms have implemented have led to a serious change or decrease in usage of online services; whereas teenagers do not readily accept parental regulation of their social media use and often find it easy to bypass any technical constraints imposed; whereas providers must have a direct responsibility to respect children’s rights in the digital environment through safety-by-design approaches, and ensuring that products and services are designed taking the best interest of the child and do not cause negative outcomes for children.
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
Ka. whereas the use of persuasive design strategies is linked to the prevalence of digital addiction and Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) often rely on persuasive design strategies to influence users and maximise the time they spend on the platform; whereas despite recent advances in European regulation of the digital sphere, existing legislation does not sufficiently address persuasive and addictive design practices.
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas the Digital Services Act (DSA) introduces provisions against the use of ‘dark patterns’ but these are limited to choice architecture and influences choices and do not address behavioural design that is addictive per se, moreover they are limited inwhile these provisions only apply to cases not covered by the General Data Protection Regulation and the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, they are also limited scope as they only apply to online platforms, not to all online services; whereas the AI Act4 seeks to ban AI systems that deploy subliminal features but is limited to systems that ‘are purposefully manipulative or deploy deceptive techniques’; _________________ 4 Proposal for a regulation laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (artificial intelligence act) (COM(2021)0206).
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
La. whereas the Digital Services Act (DSA) foresees more transparency for the main parameters of recommender systems, including the ability to modify or select the parameters of recommender systems; whereas Digital Services Act (DSA) introduces an obligation for Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) to provide users with at least one option of their recommender systems that is not based on profiling;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L b (new)
Recital L b (new)
Lb. whereas the Digital Services Act (DSA) introduces an obligation for online platforms used by platforms to take appropriate and proportionate measures to protect minors, for example by designing their online interfaces or parts thereof with the highest level of privacy, safety and security for minors by default where appropriate or adopting standards for protection of minors, or participating in codes of conduct for protecting minors; whereas online platforms should not present advertisements on their interface based on profiling as defined in Article 4, point (4), of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 using personal data of the recipient of the service when they are aware with reasonable certainty that the recipient of the service is a minor;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L c (new)
Recital L c (new)
Lc. whereas Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs) have an obligation to conduct risk assessments under the Digital Services Act (DSA); whereas Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs) should analyse how minors can be exposed through their service to content that may impair their health, physical, mental or moral development, taking into account risks that may arise, for example, in relation to the design of online interfaces which intentionally, or unintentionally exploit the weaknesses and inexperience of minors or which may cause addictive behaviour; whereas in the context of the broader concerns about the protection of children in the digital environment, there is a clear need to assess the aspects related to the commercial exploitation and the effects of commercial practices on children and young consumers;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Welcomes the European Commission's 'digital fairness' fitness check of consumer law, as a unique opportunity to pave the way for a new generation of consumer protection legislation that will reverse the negative trends, which have been weakening consumers’ position and reducing consumers’ rights in a world dominated by digital technologies; to this end, calls on the European Commission for its fitness check to review the concepts and definitions in consumer law such as definition of “consumer”, “vulnerable consumer” and “trader” in order to protect consumers from harms and respond to the challenges brought about by the age of data;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1a. Believes that digital addiction and persuasive technologies are problems that require a comprehensive regulatory response from the EU, with a series of supportive policy initiatives, to meaningfully address digital addiction and empower citizens with the ability to determine how they use digital service and products to further their own goals and be protected against new forms of addiction and problematic uses of the internet;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that despite its legislative efforts in the digital field, such as the Digital Services Act (DSA) or the AI Act, the issue of addictive design is not sufficiently covered in existing EU legislation, and if unaddressed could lead to further deterioration in the area of public health, especially affecting minors; considers that if the topic gets further delayed, Parliament should use its right of legislative initiative; calls on the Commission to ensure robust enforcement of all existing legislation on the matter with the highest possible degree of transparency, notably the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Digital Services Act (DSA);
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission to present legislation against addictive design; urges the Commission in its review of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive5 (UCPD), Consumer Rights Directive6 and Unfair Contract Terms Directive7 (Fitness check) to pay particular attention to and tackle the growing issues around the addictive, behavioural and manipulative design of online services; _________________ 5 Directive 2005/29/EC of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market (OJ L 149, 11.6.2005, p. 22). 6 Directive 2011/83/EU of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights (OJ L 304, 22.11.2011, p. 64). 7 Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts (OJ L 95, 21.4.1993, p. 29).
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Is of the opinion that the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) should integrate the concept of digital asymmetry and recognise that consumer digital vulnerability is the universal state of susceptibility and ensure that the definition of 'transactional decision' in the UCPD includes transactions where the behaviour of the consumer is connected to the revenue-earning model of the trader to captures services which monetise the attention and engagement of consumers, where the consumer pays the trader by spending their time and interacting with the service;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Reiterates that horizontal consumer law must respond to the fact that digital asymmetry also affects enforcers and to this end strengthening the institutional pillars of cross-border consumer law enforcement focusing on the review and improvements to the regime governed by the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation is needed;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Demands that a revision of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive should take into account consumers’ susceptibility to the exploitation of the unequal power in the trader-consumer relationship resulting from internal and external factors beyond the consumer’s control; stresses that the autonomy of consumers should not be undermined by traders’ commercial practices, in particular the design and operation of the interface, to this end is of the opinion that Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) should also mandate the reversal of the burden of proof placed on the trader to demonstrate compliance in cases of power asymmetries and a duty of care on the part of the trader to ensure a high level of consumer protection and a horizontal principle of fairness by design of digital products and services;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Believes that consumers should be granted the right to meaningful personalisation that would afford them effective control over the recommendations they are shown by content recommender systems and the right to receive non-personalised offers, and to receive only such product and service offers and content recommendations which are not based on algorithmic personalisation techniques;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Believes that any response at the EU level should aim to create meaningful consultation, cooperation, and collaboration with and between stakeholders, particularly lawmakers, public health bodies, and media regulators, companies, consumer organisations and NGOs; Stresses that stakeholders must work collaboratively to develop, assess and take regulative actions to prevent and minimize the harm associated with problematic online behaviours; Furthermore, believes that the broad use of educational guidelines and prevention plans, as well as awareness-raising campaigns, should promote self-control strategies to help individuals develop safer online behaviours and new healthy habits;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Strongly believes that providers should move away from platform features that encourage a focus on monopolising users’ attention, including personalised advertising and continuous streams of content to help users autonomously choose what content they wish to engage with, and limit the ability of social media platforms; support developing, implementing and evaluating in-app functions that might support users’ self- control, such as warning messages or developing, implementing, and evaluating awareness campaigns concerning potential risks resulting from problematic online behaviours;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses the significant impact of addictive design on children and youngsters and calls on the Commission to make additional international efforts to regulate addictive design online in this regard; and the need to develop and implement regulatory instruments and industry standards on safety by design digital services and products for children which can foster compliance with children’s rights;