Google is to blame for this. If you run your site through their usability wizard...

Jaruzel on Oct 25, 2019 | parent | context | favorite | on: Who Killed the Scrollbar?

Google is to blame for this. If you run your site through their usability wizard, it will warn you when links or buttons are too close together, along with insinuating that you won't rank highly for mobile devices if you don't fix it.