Big Tech’s divisive ‘personalization’ attracts fresh call for profiling-based content feeds to be off by default in EU

Big Tech’s divisive ‘personalization’ attracts fresh call for profiling-based content feeds to be off by default in EU

11 months ago
Anonymous $Pi6HN8Q0B-

https://techcrunch.com/2023/12/20/dsa-recommender-systems/

Another policy tug-of-war could be emerging around Big Tech’s content recommender systems in the European Union where the Commission is facing a call from a number of parliamentarians to rein in profiling-based content feeds — aka “personalization” engines that process user data in order to determine what content to show them.

Mainstream platforms’ tracking and profiling of users to power “personalized” content feeds have long raised concerns about potential harms for individuals and democratic societies, with critics suggesting the tech drives social media addiction and poses mental health risks for vulnerable people. There are also concerns the tech is undermining social cohesion via a tendency to amplify divisive and polarizing content that can push individuals towards political extremes by channelling their outrage and anger.