Why do they need to be state controlled for this? This is the same argument for casinos but states don’t run those.
> This is the same argument for casinos but states don’t run those.
In most (or at least a lot of) countries states regulate casinos _so much_ than it becomes almost a technicality that casinos are privately owned.
Also with lotteries you have the scale factor -- in order to have an attractive lottery, you need a ton of ticket buyers, so if you have a national level lottery you can definitely make neighborhood lotteries way less appealing.
Blackjack and poker tables don't scale the same way.
Many UX patterns are fine tuned to keep people in more, which is perfectly understandable as the primary goal is to keep the user in.
Now, who defines "addictive" using which aspect? And even if it is defined, how are they going to outlaw "addictive design"? Blocking UX patterns? Imposing a limit on how quick a user can swipe to next content (which would do more harm than good in general)? Limiting displayed relevant recommended content at the end of content (again, more harm than good in general)?
Don't want to play devil's advocate here but it's not the apps'/platforms' fault here, but parents' fault.
Sugar is addictive. Do we ban sugar, or regulate its consumption? No! Instead we educate parents to limit their childrens' sugar intake.
Parents need to be educated the same way about addictiveness of social platforms and limit their children's usage, but they are probably perfectly okay with status quo as giving a tablet to a kid "snoozes" them for hours so the parent can do whatever they want without interacting with their children, which is wrong in the first place.
I do not work for any big social media platform nor benefit from them, but stop blaming successful social media platforms that have mastered UX optimization, for stupid parents' actions that cause their children to get addicted.
Educate the parents instead to spend more right time with their children.
This is kind of assuming that the parents have full control over the lives of their children. Which:
a. Isn't true b. Shouldn't be true (because some parents are bad)
As a parent you go to work for 8+ hours per day. During that time your child is in the care of "society" (school / daycare / whatever). And during that time the only thing that protects them is laws and regulations.