On Thursday, the social media company Meta faced an EU investigation of Facebook and Instagram to check the potential addictive impacts on children’s overall health and well-being. This investigation will examine whether social media is addictive or dangerous, and it will investigate which age groups use it the most and how content is recommended to children. Many tech firms are still under investigation by the new Digital Services Act DSA.
The executive body of the EU said, “We are trying to investigate the cause of Facebook and Instagram and its impact on promoting behavioral addictions and rabbit holes in children. They also said we will investigate the implications of content that led to depression in young consumers. We don’t believe Meta has done much work to comply with the obligation of the Digital Services Act.
A spokesperson told CNBC through email that we want to provide secure online access to children according to their age and accelerate them for their complete protection. Various industries are facing these challenges today and want to share the working details for this with the European Commission.
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The commission verifies the methods and concerns within age to put in the Meta place. Algorithms promoting useless content have also been a concern with the UK communications watchdog Ofcom, which is developing the Online Safety Act. A spokesperson also said the meta-investigation was different when investigating the bloc’s new DSA rule. They also said the similarities among the cases impact the platform’s methods.
The commissioner also stated that the beginning of the DSA investigation would encourage the EU to take more steps for child safety. After introducing the Digital Service Act, growth quickly increased and came under EU scrutiny. Through the DSA, companies can be fined up to 6% of their annual revenue for violation. However, according to the new law, the bloc has not yet found any tech giant.
After the book publication” The Anxious Generation,” the debate and discussion about social media’s impacts on children will rise. Some social psychologists say that social media usage causes anxiety and depression among youth and destroys the physical and mental health of children.
The Digital Services Act book works to protect Europeans’ online rights. The EU will suspend the app version after investigating the TikTok lite reward system point-for-view. They will suspend the incentives when they deeply investigate their impacts on children. The EU is not the only country taking action for online child protection.
