Facebook and Instagram have been labelled as “addictive” by the EU’s law-making arm which has ordered Meta to make changes or face large fines.
The European Commission said that Meta was deemed to be in breach of the Digital Services Act due to features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and the platforms’ highly personalised recommender systems.
The act, first introduced in 2023, applied to social media platforms in particular and included bans on targeted advertising aimed at children. It also forbids “dark patterns” – tactics that mislead people into giving personal data to companies online.
In its recent findings, the Commission found that Meta had not “adequately assessed the risks” of its addictive design on the physical and mental wellbeing of users, including minors and vulnerable adults. The platforms were found to be designed around principles that urge users to keep scrolling and shift the brain into “autopilot mode” which can lead to compulsive use.
The regulator...