Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri introduces a new bill that will make autoplay videos and endless scrolling features on websites and social media illegal.
The SMART Act
The bill, called the Social Media Addiction Reduction Technology Act or SMART Act, aims to ban addictive features that are working to keep people online longer. If it gains approval, the Federal Trade Commission and Health and Human Services could put together similar regulations. These would expire within three years if the Congress does not it a law.
The SMART Act is targeting social media, banning many features that are common in websites, such as infinite scrolling, awards with no benefits except rewarding website engagement, and autoplaying or automatic loading of certain content. It will also require that accept and decline icons for services should be identical in shape, size, font, and other design elements.
Making The Internet, Social Media Less Addictive
Hawley's SMART Act aims to correct the addictive nature of the Internet and social media by limiting the features that urge people to stay online.
During a Senate hearing in June 2019, Tristan Harris of the Center for Humane Technology explained how many online platforms use manipulative features to keep the user hooked.
"It starts with techniques like 'pull to refresh', so you pull to refresh your newsfeed," Harris explained. "That operates like a slot machine. It has the same kind of addictive qualities that keep people in Las Vegas hooked. Other examples are removing stopping cues. So if I take the bottom out of this glass and I keep refilling the water or the wine, you won't know when to stop drinking. That's what happens with infinitely scrolling feeds."
Hawley agrees with the assessment, pointing out that the technology industry is embracing a business model that relies on addiction.
"Too much of the 'innovation' in this space is designed not to create better products, but to capture more attention by using psychological tricks that make it difficult to look away," Hawley said in a report from The Verge.
The Darker Side Of The Bill
In a piece on Reason, Peter Suderman pointed out that empowering federal agencies to regulate every detail of social media companies seems to be "a wild misuse of federal power." It's easy to imagine, he explained, agencies or individuals abusing this bill to punish, reward, and generally control companies.
Ultimately, critics are noting that the SMART Act is too controlling, treating Internet users with kid gloves. Instead of trusting individuals to regulate themselves online and on social media, the bill operates with the belief that the government or legislation needs to step in.
