The EU Punches the Cash Register and Says, “Pay Up”
July 16, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
I loved the old-fashioned cash register I used at the A&W Root Beer Stand in 1958. Put your fingers on the keys for the amount. Push. Ka ching. The cash drawer would open. Put in the customer’s money. Slam the cash drawer. Ker-chunk. My boss, the owner of the root beer stand, told me, “I love that sound.” I did too. Ker-chunk. None of that beep stuff. Ker-chunk.
A playground is unused. The children are immersed in their mobile phones. They consume Threads-type of information and communicated by sending Instagram-type messages. The playground is silent. Modern life. Thanks, Midjourney. Not what I prompted, but I understand your problems with cash, computational resources, and precision. I just don’t really care. Sorry.
The EU just rang its old fashioned cash register. According to “Commission Preliminarily Finds the Addictive Design of Instagram and Facebook in Breach of the Digital Services Act”:
or the addictive design of Instagram and Facebook. The investigation focuses on features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and the platforms’ highly personalised recommender systems.
As a point of fact, Facebook “became” a US company in 2004. My math is not too good but that looks like more than two decades ago. Call it a generation. In that time, PhDs have been issued to people who have what I call the Brittany Kaiser-type of information expertise. To me, Cambridge Analytica is a company set up to surf on Facebook and other social media. If I had a for-fee LexisNexis account again, I would look up how many times “social media” and “harm” have been mentioned in the for-fee content in that estimable LexisNexis system. If I were more energetic, I would probe for articles in publications similar to London, UK tabloids with details about a teen suicide connected to online abuse via social media. But after two decades of ignoring the corrosive impact and remarkable “force” of information flows, the EU is leaping into action. I think this is speedier that US action, but I could be incorrect. That, of course, is nothing new.
The write up continues:
Meta disregarded available information about the time minors spend on Instagram or Facebook at night and how the optimisation of its different formats – such as reels and stories – could lead to excessive or compulsive use of the services. Evidence also shows that Meta’s current mitigation measures failed to effectively tackle the risks stemming from its addictive design. For example, Instagram’s and Facebook’s time management tools, including those activated by default for teens, can be easily dismissed and do not lead to a meaningful reduction and control of the usage of the service. Moreover, the Commission considers that Meta’s parental controls are only effective if parents and guardians possess adequate technical expertise, as well as devote effort and time to understand them effectively. This undermines the efficiency of such measures in addressing the inherent risks posed by Instagram and Facebook’s addictive design.
I think the EU is correct.
Here’s the fingers on the keys of the cash register. Not touching, mind you. Quivering in anticipation:
If the Commission’s views are ultimately confirmed, the Commission may issue a non-compliance decision, which can trigger a fine proportionate to the nature, gravity, recurrence and duration of the infringement, capped at 6% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the provider.
Several observations seem to be warranted:
- What took so long? In my Eagleton Lecture at Rutgers University in the late 1980s, I pointed out that flows of online information would erode social structures. Increase the velocity and volume of the flows and the human is going to be overwhelmed by what was then called “the information revolution.” Did anyone care? I know that my audience in New Jersey sure didn’t. Online information was perceived as a good thing. How’s that working out?
- The combination of social media and an unregulated environment is a happy path. The Facebook ecosystem replaced indigenous species of information. Examples range from hanging out with friends in person to reading books. Social media is one reason college graduates today may not be able to read a book. Forget reading something like Kenichi Ohmai’s The Mind of the Strategist (1982). I am talking about reading “The Little Engine That Could.” Not good, right?
- Governments operate on one type of time. Online companies operate on another. When the times mismatch, quite interesting things happen. Example: How about that artificial intelligence revolution? AI is bigger than fire or the wheel or the invention of the nuclear bomb. Is it regulated? Ho ho ho.
Net net: Houston, we have a problem.
Stephen E Arnold, July 16, 2026
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