After an investigation that has been ongoing for just over two years, sharp warnings are now being issued against the parent company Meta.
“Protecting the physical and mental health of Europeans must be a priority for social media. The Digital Services Act (DSA) provides a clear framework to hold platforms accountable for the addictive design and impact of such services,” EU Commissioner for Digital Henna Virkkunen writes in a press release.
The Commission clearly states that Meta “must make changes to both Instagram and Facebook” to address the criticism.
“On autopilot”
The Commission has specifically investigated scrolling, autoplay, pushes and recommendations on Facebook and Instagram and believes that Meta “did not carry out a sufficient risk assessment”.
“These features feed the user's feeling of having to keep scrolling and put the brain on 'autopilot', which contributes to unhealthy habits and compulsive use,” the EU says, among other things.
Meta is also accused of ignoring available figures on how long minors spend using Instagram and Facebook at night, and the company's parental control system is also considered ineffective.
What Meta has done is not convincing, says an EU source who worked on the investigation, at a press briefing in Brussels.
Billion-dollar fines?
The European Commission is now demanding action and is awaiting a response from the company. In the worst case, Meta could face fines of up to six percent of its global annual turnover.
According to the AFP news agency, Meta disagrees with the criticism, while promising to "engage constructively" with the EU.
According to the company, the investigation "does not take into account the significant steps we have taken to protect teenagers," among other things.
Earlier this year, similar EU conclusions were drawn regarding TikTok, which was also singled out for its addictive design.
The investigations into Facebook and Instagram have been ongoing since May 2024.
