EU warns Meta to change 'addictive Facebook, Instagram or face fine

(Sharecast News) - Tech giant Meta has been threatened with a fine if it does not change Facebook's and Instagram's "addictive" design, the European Commission said on Friday.

In its preliminary findings, the European Commission said Meta had to get rid of features such as infinite scroll and autoplaying videos and personalised recommendations which could encourage "compulsive use", especially among children and teenagers.

Failure to comply could result in a fine of 6% of Meta's global annual turnover under the Digital Services Act.

The commission cited evidence that the addictive features push users into "autopilot mode", fuelling compulsive use and unhealthy habits. It also criticised Meta for disregarding internal information on the time minors spend on the platforms at night and how formats such as reels and stories encourage excessive engagement.

Riskmitigation measures were found to be ineffective, with timemanagement tools "easily dismissed" and parental controls too complex for most families to use meaningfully. Awarenessraising efforts, including links to mentalhealth resources, were deemed insufficient to counter the risks inherent in the platforms' design.

Meta may need to implement significant design changes, including disabling autoplay and infinite scroll by default, introducing effective screentime breaks, and reducing the engagementorientation of its recommender systems, it added.

The findings form part of a wider DSA probe launched in May 2024, including separate concerns over ageassurance failures and ongoing scrutiny of "rabbit hole" effects in Meta's algorithms.

"Protecting the physical and mental health of Europeans must be a priority for social media platforms," said EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen in a statement.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com