Designed to Hook: The Roots of Platform Addiction and Ways Forward

  • Panel
  • Grande Halle
  • Thursday 22.05 — 08:45 - 10:00

Organising Institution

Bits of Freedom

Netherlands

The way in which our societies are digitizing comes with great risks. New technology is far too often used to limit people's freedom and their ability to shape their lives. We're surveilled by our governments. Big (tech) corporations abuse our vulnerabilities and manipulate our world view. The careless use of data leads to a codification, concealment and recurrence of discrimination. Two fundamental rights play a key role in protecting us against these threats: freedom of communication and privacy. In addition, they are essential if we are to fully realize the emancipatory potential of the Internet. This is why Bits of Freedom fights to advance these rights.
  • Academic 2
  • Business 2
  • Policy 2
The issue of addictive design has gained significant attention within the European Union. Recently, MEP Kim van Sparrentak highlighted this concern in an initiative report, and the European Commission announced its upcoming Digital Fairness Act, which will include provisions addressing addictive design. The challenge is clear: growing numbers of people, amongst them are minors, are facing social media addiction. Yet, the path to a solution remains complex. Unlike other addictive substances, social media itself is not inherently harmful. This raises a pressing question: how can we reshape social media design through legislation to make it less addictive, without compromising its positive aspects?

Questions to be answered

  1. What makes design addictive?
  2. Can regulating platform design effectively address social media addiction?
  3. Should we take different approaches to social media addiction solutions for minors versus adults?
  4. Which social media design patterns could the EU consider for regulation?

Moderator

Evelyn Austin

Bits of Freedom - Netherlands

Evelyn Austin is the Executive Director of Bits of Freedom, a Dutch digital rights organisation based in Amsterdam. Since 1999, Bits of Freedom has worked to shape internet policy in support of an open and just society in which people can hold power accountable and effectively question the status quo. Austin has been working at the intersection of technology and society for over 15 years and co-founded The Hmm, an experimental research platform for internet cultures.

Speaker

Caroline Sinders

Convocation Research - United Kingdom

Caroline Sinders is an award winning critical designer, researcher, and artist. They’re the founder of human rights and design lab, Convocation Research + Design, and a current BRAID fellow with the University of Arts, London. For the past few years, they have been examining the intersections of artificial intelligence, intersectional justice, harmful design, systems and politics in digital conversational spaces and technology platforms. They’ve worked with the Tate Exchange at the Tate Modern, the United Nations, the UK’s Information Commissioner's Office, the European Commission, Ars Electronica, the Harvard Kennedy School and others. Caroline is currently based between London, UK and New Orleans, USA.

Speaker

Romayne Gad el Rab

Consultant Psychiatrist, at The Maudsley Hospital and Clinical Research Fellow to Professor Allan Young at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN). - United Kingdom

Dr Romy Gad el Rab is a Consultant Psychiatrist and research fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London and a doctor in the UKs first problematic Internet Gaming clinic. She is interested in the effects of technology and digital media on behaviours and mental wellbeing. Having trained in both medicine and design, she works on projects that examine the human impact of large scale technology systems.

Speaker

Kim van Sparrentak

Member of Parliament of the EU - Europe

Kim van Sparrentak is a Member of the European Parliament on behalf of the Groenlinks-PvdA delegation in the Greens/EFA. She is Co-Chair of the LGBTIQ+ Intergroup, a member of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, as well as a substitute in the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. Kim’s focus is on the human element in digitalisation and digital sovereignty. She was negotiator for the Greens group on the AI Act, and the rapporteur for the own-initiative report on addictive design which urges the Commission to address existing legal gaps and introduce new legislation.

Speaker

Maryant Fernández

BEUC - International

Maryant is a lawyer and Head of Digital Policy at BEUC - The European Consumer Organisation, where she represents 44 consumer associations from 31 countries on digital rights. She coordinates and manages BEUC's work in the fields of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, platform regulation, privacy, data protection, telecommunications, cybersecurity and digital health. She is a Board member of Women AT Privacy and a member of the European Commission's expert group on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).