EU Commission: addictive design Instagram and Facebook in breach of the DSA • Hacker News Board

Re: EU Commission: addictive design Instagram and Facebook in breach of the DSA

#121

Post by alightsoul » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 3:45 PM UTC

el1s7 wrote: post #117

tancop wrote: post #105

this is the wrong approach. they should enforce a choice between addictive and "ethical" algorithms (or even better allow third party feeds), make them transparent with what kind of data they use to personalize and strictly ban any kind of political bias. things like bluesky fyp should always stay legal and not in a gray area. even if someone comes up with a design thats more addictive than hard drugs people should h…

The choice already exist: don't use social media like Instagram and TikTok. Yet everyone keep choosing it despite being addictive. So you can't really trust people, even less teenagers, to make a disciplined choice of not using an addictive algorithm.

Because the network effect prevents them from using alternatives. Bluesky is a desert in the global south

Re: EU Commission: addictive design Instagram and Facebook in breach of the DSA

#122

Post by alightsoul » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 3:46 PM UTC

chk84us wrote: post #11

Only tangentailly related, but, there is an option in Instagram to reset your algorithm. I highly recommend this if you find yourself doom-scrolling. Not sure if it's also in FB on account of me not having an account there.

Yeah it doesn't work long term because you go back to being addicted in no time. At least that's how it was when I tried to do it by creating new accounts

My solution is to use curbox and repost content on bluesky

Re: EU Commission: addictive design Instagram and Facebook in breach of the DSA

#123

Post by oliwarner » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 3:46 PM UTC

Tinned_Tuna wrote: post #108

tancop wrote: post #105

this is the wrong approach. they should enforce a choice between addictive and "ethical" algorithms (or even better allow third party feeds), make them transparent with what kind of data they use to personalize and strictly ban any kind of political bias. things like bluesky fyp should always stay legal and not in a gray area. even if someone comes up with a design thats more addictive than hard drugs people should h…

One thing that's potentially different, at least for Facebook, is the network effect. It only takes a few friends to start using Facebook for event planning for people to start missing events or worrying about missing out. That extra pressure cuts against individual choice. Instagram is different, but you can see something similar happen on platforms with a chat feature. If people start to gravitate towards a singula…

Hey nice to hear somebody taking about social feature of a social network when so much of this is about profiling people through infinite scrolling content from strangers.

It'd be hilarious to see the EU demand interop on features like Events, Groups, Marketplace.

Re: EU Commission: addictive design Instagram and Facebook in breach of the DSA

#124

Post by psychoslave » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 3:50 PM UTC

chk84us wrote: post #11

Only tangentailly related, but, there is an option in Instagram to reset your algorithm. I highly recommend this if you find yourself doom-scrolling. Not sure if it's also in FB on account of me not having an account there.

I highly recommend not using Instagram. Also ketamine I hear is bad for people brain. Stay safe.

What happen when wanna-be-free-market interests have some lucrative addictive crap to sell, hmm? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars

Re: EU Commission: addictive design Instagram and Facebook in breach of the DSA

#125

Post by psychoslave » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 3:53 PM UTC

TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #12

Forcing social media apps to have a less addictive design is a much better way to protect young people's brains than a social media age limit is (and frankly adults need help here too).

What about calling these stuffs something like "junk media"? Using the words of the offenders to depict the landscape is giving a major concession in this battle for critical thinking.

Re: EU Commission: addictive design Instagram and Facebook in breach of the DSA

#126

Post by testerteert000a » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 3:57 PM UTC

pembrook wrote: post #23

kittikitti wrote: post #17

This is welcome news but I have several friends, family members, or acquaintances that are addicted to social media and have to take psychiatric medication for it. The trouble is, and I'm not sure if the algorithm incentivizes it, but they don't take their pills. They don't even take multivitamins because of whatever idiotic misinformation they're being fed. It becomes a positive feedback loop and anything I and othe…

> are addicted to social media and have to take psychiatric medication for it. I’m sorry but this is just not real. There’s not a single non-quack doctor who will recommend psychiatric medication for “social media addiction,” which is not a real thing and pretty much all of the recent academic literature proves as much. If your doctor is suggesting medication for social media use, you either have much deeper underlyi…

> all of the recent academic literature

The academic literature funded by what grants from what stakeholders? Like the social media research from Harvard Kennedy now? The research that came after its social media research lead was fired and a $500mm Chan Zuckerberg Initiative grant occurred somehow in parallel [0] [1]?

That recent research?

Or the research that was occurring on social media before that? Surely you're not arguing in that bad of faith, despite where I could speculate your RSUs might have came from. But this seems an extremely naive take if not made in bad faith.

[0] https://www.thecrimson[.]com/article/2023/2/2/donovan-forced... [1] https://www.npr[.]org/2023/12/04/1217086770/disinformation-r...

Re: EU Commission: addictive design Instagram and Facebook in breach of the DSA

#127

Post by hash872 » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 3:59 PM UTC

Would love to see the overlap between the average anti-Big Tech HN commenter cheering on this regulatory advance, and the average HN commenter who thinks hard drugs should be legalized and that the War on Drugs is bad. Because these are contradictory positions! Either you think people should be free to do things that are addictive or you don't

Re: EU Commission: addictive design Instagram and Facebook in breach of the DSA

#128

Post by Timon3 » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 4:02 PM UTC

hash872 wrote: post #127

Would love to see the overlap between the average anti-Big Tech HN commenter cheering on this regulatory advance, and the average HN commenter who thinks hard drugs should be legalized and that the War on Drugs is bad. Because these are contradictory positions! Either you think people should be free to do things that are addictive or you don't

No, those positions aren't inherently contradictory. There are plenty of viewpoints that make them consistent.

Re: EU Commission: addictive design Instagram and Facebook in breach of the DSA

#129

Post by YurgenJurgensen » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 4:04 PM UTC

d4ng wrote: post #118

YurgenJurgensen wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brand awareness is a Red Queen’s race. Attention is a finite resource, and ad spend mainly exists to counteract the spend of your competitors.

No one buying shit anymore. People still buying shit elsewhere. GDP and tax revenues fall relative to others. Deflationary aspects. Market leaders complain through lobbying groups. Repeal. Back to square one.

That’s just a restatement of your previous point. Pretend I restated my response.

Re: EU Commission: addictive design Instagram and Facebook in breach of the DSA

#130

Post by e2le » Fri, Jul 10, 2026, 4:06 PM UTC

tancop wrote: post #105

this is the wrong approach. they should enforce a choice between addictive and "ethical" algorithms (or even better allow third party feeds), make them transparent with what kind of data they use to personalize and strictly ban any kind of political bias. things like bluesky fyp should always stay legal and not in a gray area. even if someone comes up with a design thats more addictive than hard drugs people should h…

> choice between addictive and "ethical" algorithms

A few years ago I would have agreed with this sentiment however after watching many adults (and children) fall into addictive AI slop alternate reality hell holes, I just want it to stop. Likewise, I prefer not to live in a society that enables drug addicts to walk the streets and used needles to litter the pavements every 10cm like empty Coke bottles.

We regulate things we know will be abused, and we are often the better for it. Social media is no different.