Meta Platforms' 'Addictive' Design of Facebook, Instagram Preliminarily Violates EU Law, European Commission Says

Meta Platforms' (META) "addictive" design of Instagram and Facebook violates the European Union's Digital Services Act, the European Commission said Friday. Preliminary findings from the Commission's investigation found that Meta did not adequately assess the risks of features such as highly personalized recommendations, autoplay, and infinite scroll to the physical and mental well-being of users, including minors and vulnerable adults, the EC said. The commission said that Meta's efforts to mitigate these problems have not been effective, noting that tools like time management features do not meaningfully reduce usage. The EC said that Meta needs to implement design changes to both Instagram and Facebook. The company needs to, for instance, disable the autoplay and infinite scroll features by default and implement effective screen time breaks, it said. The EC said that if its findings are ultimately confirmed, it may issue a non-compliance decision, which can trigger a fine proportionate to the nature, gravity, recurrence, and duration of the infringement, capped at 6% of Meta's worldwide annual turnover. Meta did not immediately respond to ' request for comment. Copyright.