Big Tech in Spain for the first time in the spotlight for using addictive patterns on the internet
Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 3:51 am
It is no secret that many social networks and online platforms rely on deliberately addictive patterns to get users to spend as much time as possible on their domains (which ultimately translates into more advertising revenue for those channels). In Spain, the authorities had never investigated these addictive patterns, but the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) announced yesterday that it is going to open investigations into several technology companies that use such addictive patterns to "manipulate" their users and get them to stay online longer. This is the first investigation of its kind to be undertaken in Spain.
Brussels had already placed TikTok phone code philippines under scrutiny for a possible breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) . Article 24 of this regulation states that online platforms cannot hide behind designs that “deceive” their users or “distort” their ability to make “free and informed decisions.”
Mara España, director of the AEPD , did not want to reveal which companies are specifically under scrutiny. However, most of the companies under investigation are based outside Spain and are therefore free from the yoke of national jurisdiction. The intention of the AEPD is to work closely with the European Union to promote joint actions at the community level.
The AEPD announced the opening of its investigations on Wednesday during the presentation of a study that shows that social networks, video games, video, music and adult content platforms and digital applications rely on tactics directly related to neuroscience and psychology that can be "particularly serious in the right to physical and mental integrity of children and younger users, affecting their way of making decisions, of relating in society or their mental balance.
Brussels had already placed TikTok phone code philippines under scrutiny for a possible breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) . Article 24 of this regulation states that online platforms cannot hide behind designs that “deceive” their users or “distort” their ability to make “free and informed decisions.”
Mara España, director of the AEPD , did not want to reveal which companies are specifically under scrutiny. However, most of the companies under investigation are based outside Spain and are therefore free from the yoke of national jurisdiction. The intention of the AEPD is to work closely with the European Union to promote joint actions at the community level.
The AEPD announced the opening of its investigations on Wednesday during the presentation of a study that shows that social networks, video games, video, music and adult content platforms and digital applications rely on tactics directly related to neuroscience and psychology that can be "particularly serious in the right to physical and mental integrity of children and younger users, affecting their way of making decisions, of relating in society or their mental balance.