EU says Facebook and Instagram's 'addictive' design is illegal

The European Commission says Facebook's and Instagram's addictive designs violate the Digital Services Act.

The European Commission says Meta’s current mitigation measures can’t prevent social media addiction. The European Commission says Meta did implement addictive designs for Instagram and Facebook, and it is in violation of the bloc's Digital Services Act.

It started investigating the company over addiction and safety concerns for minors in May 2024, focusing on features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and the apps' highly personalized recommendation systems.

Now, the commission has released its preliminary findings, wherein it said that the company "did not adequately assess the risks of its addictive design on the physical and mental wellbeing of users, including minors and vulnerable adults."

Meta, the commission concluded, did not take into account that those aforementioned features will fuel users' urge to keep scrolling, thereby contributing to unhealthy habits and compulsive use of social media. Further, it said the company disregarded how formats like stories and reels could lead to excessive use of its services.

Meta's Response

The company told CNBC that it disagrees with the preliminary findings and that the commission didn't consider the "significant steps" it has taken to protect teens since the investigation began. It specifically mentioned the rollout of "Teen Accounts," which gives parents the power to block their children's access at night and to cap their daily screen time at 15 minutes.

Commission's Assessment

However, the commission said evidence shows Meta's current mitigation measures don't effectively address the issues it raised. Instagram's and Facebook's time management tools for teens can be easily dismissed and don't truly lead to meaningful reduction of the apps' usage, the commission explained.

It also found that Meta's parental controls are only effective if parents and guardians have some level of technical expertise or have the time to dedicate to learning them. "This undermines the efficiency of such measures in addressing the inherent risks posed by Instagram and Facebook's addictive design," it wrote.

Proposed Solutions

The European Commission's solution? It believes Meta has to implement major design changes, such as:

• Disabling autoplay and infinite scroll by default
• Adopting "screen time breaks"
• Making its algorithms less focused towards generating engagement

Next Steps

Meta can fight the findings and will be able to examine the files the EU's executive branch used in the investigation. But if the commission's findings are confirmed, the company could face fines up to 6 percent of its total annual turnover.