10 jul 2026
EU threatens Instagram, Facebook with fines if it doesn’t change addictive design
BRUSSELS The European Commission has told Meta to change the addictive design of its social media platforms Instagram and Facebook or risk fines for breaking the European Union’s online child safety rules. The EU executive issued its findings under the Digital Services Act on Friday, telling Meta to disable features like autoplay and infinite scroll in its default settings, to implement effective “screen time breaks” and to tweak its recommendation algorithm that is currently driven to maximize engagement.
across the coverage
The tech giant is in breach of the Digital Services Act by focusing on features like infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and the highly personalized recommendation algorithms, the European Commission said.
techcrunchRegulators say features such as infinite scroll contribute to "compulsive use" and "unhealthy habits".
bbc newsMeta, the parent company of the popular social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, must change the design features that make their use addictive, the European Union said on Friday, threatening to slap the US tech giant with steep fines if it does not abide.
france 24
coverage · 4 outlets
- 10:15france 24
Facebook and Instagram must stop ‘addictive’ features causing infinite scrolling, EU tells Meta
- 12:02bbc news
EU threatens Meta with fines over 'addictive' Facebook and Instagram
- 14:19techcrunch
EU threatens Meta with fines over addictive features on Facebook and Instagram
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