The European Union on Friday accused Meta Platforms of breaching its social media law by designing Facebook and Instagram to keep users hooked, and demanded the company disable key addictive features such as infinite scrolling. The European Commission issued a fresh set of charges against Meta as part of its investigation under the Digital Services Act, the 27-nation bloc’s rulebook that requires tech platforms to protect users or face steep fines.
The commission said Meta had failed to properly assess the risks its design features pose to the physical and mental health of users, including minors, and that existing controls meant to help manage use were easily overridden, dismissed or too technically difficult for many users.
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Autoplay, Infinite Scroll Under Scrutiny
According to the commission’s preliminary findings, Meta needs to implement design changes to Instagram and Facebook, including disabling features such as autoplay of videos and infinite scroll so they are switched off by default. The company now has a chance to respond before a final decision is issued, which could bring a fine of up to 6% of its global annual revenue. Henna Virkkunen, an executive vice-president at the commission overseeing tech policy, said protecting the physical and mental health of Europeans had to be a priority for social media platforms.
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The commission said personalised recommendations and push notifications on Facebook and Instagram serve up an endless stream of content that keeps users on “autopilot” and fuels compulsive use. It added that screen-time controls parents can set on their teens’ devices are easily dismissed and rarely lead to a meaningful drop in usage, partly because of the technical know-how and effort required to use them.
Meta Says Findings Ignore Teen Safety Steps
Meta said the preliminary findings did not account for measures it has already introduced to protect teenagers, pointing to its Teen Accounts feature, which it said automatically restricts nighttime access and caps daily screen time at 15 minutes. The company said it shared the commission’s commitment to safe, positive online experiences for teens and would continue to engage with it. The latest charges follow an earlier finding by the EU this year that Meta had failed to stop children under 13, the minimum age for both platforms, from signing up, and had not done enough to identify and remove underage users after they created accounts.
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