The European Union accused Meta on Friday of breaching its social media law by designing Facebook and Instagram to get users hooked, and demanded it disable 鈥渒ey addictive features鈥� like infinite scrolling.
The EU’s executive arm issued a fresh set of charges against Meta Platforms as part of its investigation under the 27-nation bloc’s strict digital rule book known as the . The sweeping set of regulations from Brussels requires tech platforms to protect internet users under threat of hefty fines.
The European Commission said Meta failed to properly assess the risks its design features pose to the physical and mental health of users, including . And while the company has tools and controls to help manage Facebook and Instagram use, it said they were easily overridden, dismissed, or technically challenging to use.
Meta 鈥渘eeds to implement design changes鈥� to Instagram and Facebook, such as disabling 鈥渒ey addictive features鈥� like autoplay of videos and infinite scroll so they鈥檙e not turned on by default, the commission said in its preliminary findings.
Meta now has the chance to respond and defend itself before the commission issues its final decision, which could result in a fine worth up to 6% of the company鈥檚 global annual revenue.
Meta said Friday that the preliminary findings do not recognize the steps that the company has already taken to protect teens.
鈥淪ince this investigation began, we rolled out Teen Accounts that automatically protect teens and put parents in control – allowing them to block access to Instagram at night and cap daily screen time at just 15 minutes,鈥� Meta said in a prepared statement. “We share the European Commission鈥檚 commitment to providing teens with safe, positive online experiences and will continue to engage constructively with them.鈥�
Europe is committed to enforcing its legislation that holds platforms accountable for addictive design features, said Henna Virkkunen, an executive vice-president at the commission overseeing tech.
鈥淧rotecting the physical and mental health of Europeans must be a priority for social media platforms,鈥� Virkkunen said in a written statement.
Facebook and Instagram design features, including personalized recommendations and push notifications, serve up an endless stream of content, putting users’ brains on 鈥渁utopilot鈥� and fueling compulsive use, the commission said.
Meanwhile, screen time controls that parents can impose on their teens’ devices can be 鈥渆asily dismissed鈥� and don’t result in a meaningful reduction of use, the commission said. And the controls are undermined by the technical expertise, time and effort that parents need to understand and use them, it said.
The commission’s proposed design changes also included finding better ways to encourage screen time breaks, and changing the content recommendation system so that it鈥檚 less 鈥渆ngagement-oriented.鈥�
The preliminary findings are the latest charges since Brussels in 2024 over concerns that the social media giant wasn’t doing enough to protect children online.
The EU said that Meta had failed to prevent children under 13, the company’s minimum age to use Facebook and Instagram, from signing up. It also said Meta was not doing enough to identify and remove underage users after they had opened accounts.
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