The European Union will be tackling how to keep children safe from social media's "addictive design" through new legislation, according to European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
"Sleep deprivation, depression, anxiety, self-harm, addictive behaviour, cyberbullying, grooming, exploitation, suicide. Risks are multiplying fast," she said in a speech in Copenhagen on Tuesday.
"These risks are the reality of the digital world. And let me be very clear: they are not accidental. They are the result of business models that treat our children's attention as a commodity," she added.
The upcoming Digital Fairness Act, set to be introduced later this year, will specifically target "addictive and harmful design practices," Von Der Leyen added.
Her comments come after the Commission ruled in February that TikTok's "addictive design" breaches EU law, reigniting a debate about whether social media is truly addictive.
