The EU Moves To Kill Infinite Scrolling
- Reference: 0180788048
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/02/13/1847236/the-eu-moves-to-kill-infinite-scrolling
- Source link:
> The European Commission is for the first time tackling the addictiveness of social media in a fight against TikTok that may set new design standards for the world's most popular apps. Brussels has told the company to change several key features, [1]including disabling infinite scrolling , setting strict screen time breaks and changing its recommender systems. The demand follows the Commission's declaration that TikTok's design is addictive to users -- especially children.
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> The fact that the Commission said TikTok should change the basic design of its service is "ground-breaking for the business model fueled by surveillance and advertising," said Katarzyna Szymielewicz, president of the Panoptykon Foundation, a Polish civil society group. That doesn't bode well for other platforms, particularly Meta's Facebook and Instagram. The two social media giants are also under investigation over the addictiveness of their design.
[1] https://www.politico.eu/article/tiktok-meta-facebook-instagram-brussels-kill-infinite-scrolling/
Europe is going to slowly kick America out (Score:2, Insightful)
Europe watched Russia basically install a foreign asset as the head of state in America using Facebook and Twitter. They are not going to let that happen to themselves.
So for example they have banned young people from social media. That isn't to protect kids, nobody gives a shit about kids even in Europe. That is to do a roundabout way to gradually wean their population off of american-owned social media.
Killing infinite scrolling is part of that too since it does quite a bit of damage to social med
Re: Europe is going to slowly kick America out (Score:2)
Citation indeed -- the EU hasn't banned anything.
Several countries are looking to, and _maybe_ it might be done at the EU level, which would have all countries doing it the same way. We'll see. For now, though, nothing appears to be planned.
[1]https://www.rte.ie/news/europe... [www.rte.ie]
[1] https://www.rte.ie/news/europe/2026/0214/1558456-mcgrath-eu-social-media/
Re: (Score:2)
> Europe watched Russia basically install a foreign asset as the head of state in America using Facebook and Twitter. They are not going to let that happen to themselves.
Better, Europe watched Russia nearly install a foreign asset at the head of Romania using TikTok. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accusations_of_Russian_interference_in_the_2024_Romanian_presidential_election
I am a victim of infinite scrolling. (Score:2)
I'm all for sensible regulation, but this strikes me as similar to trying to combat drug addition by banning medicine bottles.
Re: (Score:2)
It does make it a bit easier to apply usage limits if legislation ever requires that sort of thing
Re: (Score:2)
The point to disable infinite scrolling is more nuanced, though. The right implementation is correct pagination, that allows you to start reading where you left off. The whole reverse-chronological timelines are a feature to bind your time.
With current systems, you start with recent posts and scroll down in the hope to find where you left off. You have no idea how many posts are in between, and you probably read new to old while scrolling back.
With the systems demanded, you have a permalink to your reading
I'm all for that but not for the reason you think (Score:5, Interesting)
Infinite scrolling == infinite memory usage.
Whenever I go to some forum that's heavy on pictures and videos that has infinite scrolling, and I'm looking far down the page for something or other, eventually my browser slows to a crawl, or the browser's resource-hungry JS engine crashes, and that's the end of the scrolling.
Certain sites I patronize that have the stupid infinite scrolling also have the classic &page= HTTP GET mechanism. On those sites, every once in a while, I reload the entire page with a &page= corresponding to roughly where I am in the infinite scrolling, just to reset it and free up some memory.
It's not the UI paradigm that bothers me, it's the resource usage insanity.
Re: I'm all for that but not for the reason you th (Score:2)
LRU caching isn't that hard. You're seeing bad design, that's all.
Re: (Score:2)
The EU does not require cookie banners. They require privacy. Cookie banners are the attempt of websites to tell users "Please forfeit your privacy voluntary because we are not allowed to just take it". The problem is not the banner, but the users accepting them. We would not have them, if users would have said right from the start "Fuck off, I value the privacy the law gives me".
Re: (Score:2)
How many time does some have to explain to you that cookie banners are not required in the EU. The web site simply has to respect your privacy and there won't need to be a banner at all. It's literally that timple, and it's spelled out in easy to read legisation guidance that even a trumptard could potentially understand.
Web pages were never meant to be programmed (Score:2)
I do not think that the W3c, in all of their $10,000/seat wisdom, did not mean for all web pages to by dynamic.
Re: Web pages were never meant to be programmed (Score:2)
It's in the name..."pages"
The psychological hamster wheel (Score:2)
Infinite scrolling has been from the very start a way to trap a mind onto a virtual hamster wheel. You run and run thinking you are making progress, but all you have accomplished is a little exercise with your finger.
But devil's advocate here: isn't it artistic expression to trap the audience into a Sisyphean cycle. Does this not express the futility of our actions and even of our own cognition? Isn't it better that we do this virtually than if I were to invite a live audience to a theater that I then flood
Re: (Score:2)
> But devil's advocate here: isn't it artistic expression to trap the audience into a Sisyphean cycle. Does this not express the futility of our actions and even of our own cognition? Isn't it better that we do this virtually than if I were to invite a live audience to a theater that I then flood with many litres of molasses?
At least the molasses can provide sustenance of a sort. The drivel fed to folks via infinite scrolling does nothing of the kind.
\o/ (Score:1)
...industry pivots to encourage doom-paging in 3, 2, 1
WTF?!?? This would be nonsense. (Score:2)
Disclaimer: European here.
I do like quite a few of those EU regulations. Many make sense and are anti trust and consumer/citizen friendly. How do you like the new USB ports on iPhones? You're welcome. EU GDPR? Good stuff. Toxic food additives banned? I sure do effing hope so. Etc.
However, this is one of those things that make no sense and is nothing other than micromanagement by the clueless. However I build my website is my business and my business alone (hidden cross domain tracking and similar dirty tric
Re: (Score:2)
> However I build my website is my business and my business alone (hidden cross domain tracking and similar dirty tricks excluded). If the user doesn't like infinite scrolling, they shouldn't use it.
Ignorant, or intentioanly ignorant? You are being told that no, it is not your business and your business alone. You are being told it is considered a public harm in an "attractive nuisance" kind of way where many people are not able to just not use it. Who are you shlling for?
whack a mole (Score:2)
One down and 100 dark patterns to go!
having a hard time cheering.
"TikTok" (Score:2)
Yes, "TikTok" (the application not controlled in the USA) is the problem, but not anything from Google/Alphabet (YouTube), or Meta (Facebook/Instagram/Threads), or "X" (Twitter), or the multitude of other platforms all with USA centric interests.
Yes, I realize other platforms are listed way WAY down in the article, but seriously, count the number of times TikTok is referenced compared to any other platform.
Re: (Score:2)
TikTok = 17
Facebook = 2
Instagram = 2
X = 1
Twitter = 0
Re: "TikTok" (Score:2)
Exactly this