From the Expressive Image to the Functional Image: Art as Raw Material for the Attention Economy

The thumb descends before the image has been understood. A figure appears, holds the gaze for a fraction of a second, and gives way to a face, a room, an artwork, a body, an advertisement. The sequence offers no perceptible end. Each image promises that the next might be more exact, more surprising, or closer to a desire the ranking system has yet to disclose.

On 16 May 2024, the European Commission opened formal proceedings to assess whether Meta may have breached the Digital Services Act in its protection of minors across Facebook and Instagram. The concerns address systems and algorithms that may stimulate behavioural addiction in children and produce rabbit-hole effects, alongside age assurance, privacy, and risk mitigation. Opening proceedings initiates an investigation; it does not establish final liability.

In April 2026, the Commission issued a separate preliminary finding that Meta had failed to identify, assess, and diligently mitigate the risks of children under thirteen accessing its services. That assessment also remains preliminary. Meta has introduced Teen Accounts, time reminders, Sleep Mode, content restrictions, parental supervision, and AI-supported age detection; the regulatory dispute also concerns whether such measures effectively alter the relevant risk architecture.

One distinction is essential. The explicit list of infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and highly personalised recommendation appeared in the Commission’s February 2026 preliminary findings against TikTok. The Meta proceedings share the broader concern over potentially addictive design, yet they remain legally distinct from that specific finding. Together, the cases establish a new European threshold: interface design may attract responsibility when its device ecology organises excessive or compulsive use.

The debate appears to concern buttons, notifications, and recommender systems. None of these features can retain attention in an empty interface. Scroll requires something to display. Its energy comes from images organised as a sequence of small perceptual promises. The attention economy begins in interface cadence and feeds on visual culture.