European regulators have accused Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to keep people endlessly scrolling, warning the company to change key features or risk billions of dollars in penalties.
The European Union has warned Meta that it must overhaul several design features on Facebook and Instagram that regulators say encourage addictive behaviour or face significant financial penalties.
In findings announced on Friday, the European Commission said the company is breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA) by relying on features such as infinite scrolling, autoplay videos, push notifications and highly personalised recommendation algorithms that encourage users to spend excessive amounts of time on its platforms.
According to the Commission, these features push users into what it described as an “autopilot mode”, making it harder for people to stop scrolling and increasing the risk of compulsive social media use.
Regulators said Meta failed to properly assess the impact its platform design has on users’ physical and mental well-being, particularly children, teenagers and other vulnerable groups.
The Commission also criticised Meta for failing to respond adequately to evidence showing that many minors spend long hours on Facebook and Instagram late into the night.
Officials said features including Reels and Stories can encourage excessive use and that Meta’s current safety measures do not go far enough.
“Evidence also shows that Meta’s current mitigation measures failed to effectively tackle the risks stemming from its addictive design,” the European Commission said.
It added that tools designed to help users manage screen time, including those automatically enabled for teenagers, are easy to dismiss and have not meaningfully reduced the amount of time people spend on the platforms.
As part of its preliminary findings, the Commission is calling on Meta to make major changes to the way Facebook and Instagram operate.
Among the proposed measures are disabling autoplay and infinite scrolling by default, introducing more effective reminders that encourage users to take breaks, and changing recommendation systems so they rely less on maximising engagement.
SEE ALSO: Meta Launches In House “Muse Image” AI Tool Amid Social Tagging Backlash
The findings are not yet final.
Meta will now have the opportunity to examine the Commission’s evidence and submit a formal response before regulators make a final decision.
If the company is ultimately found to have violated the Digital Services Act, it could face a fine of up to 6% of its total global annual revenue.
Meta had not publicly responded to the Commission’s findings at the time of the announcement.
The latest action adds to growing regulatory pressure on the company in Europe.
Earlier this year, the European Commission also concluded that Meta had failed to do enough to prevent children under the age of 13 from accessing Facebook and Instagram, raising further concerns about child safety on its platforms.
The company is also facing mounting legal challenges in the United States.
In a court filing earlier this week, Meta disclosed that four U.S. states are seeking $1.4 trillion in penalties, alleging the company deliberately designed Facebook and Instagram to make young users addicted while misleading the public about the safety of its platforms.
The latest EU warning signals that regulators are becoming increasingly willing to challenge how major technology companies design their products, particularly where children’s safety and users’ mental health are concerned.
If the Commission confirms its findings after reviewing Meta’s response, the company could face one of the largest financial penalties imposed under the European Union’s Digital Services Act.
