Facebook and Instagram violate laws due to addictive design, EU finds

The European Union found that Meta services like Facebook and Instagram are too addictive by design.

Preliminary Findings

On Thursday, the European Commission preliminarily found that Meta apps like Facebook and Instagram were in breach of the EU's Digital Services Act, on the grounds that they feature "addictive design."

The commission noted features such as autoplaying videos, infinite scrolling, personalized recommendations, and more as evidence that these apps encourage users to keep using them.

Potential Penalties

Meta is facing a possible fine of up to 6 percent of its annual turnover, per CNBC. Given that this is a preliminary finding, there is presumably still time for Meta to get out of paying the fine.

Meta's Response

"We disagree with these preliminary findings, which don't accurately take into account the significant steps we’ve taken to protect teens," a Meta spokesperson told CNBC.

In fairness to Meta, the company did recently launch new settings for teen accounts across its services. With teen accounts, parents can block their kids from using the apps at night and set daily time limits.

Meta also told CNBC that it "[shares] the European Commission’s commitment to providing teens with safe, positive online experiences" and will continue to work with the organization.

EU Regulatory Context

The EU has been a watchdog for big tech companies for years, in the absence of much scrutiny from the U.S. government. Earlier this year, the EU also accused Meta of not doing enough to keep children off its apps, and it also just recently won a lengthy legal battle with Google over anti-competitive practices.

About the Author

Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. Alex can be found on Bluesky at yelix.bsky.social.