The EU's tech regulator told Meta to remove infinite scroll and retool recommendations on Facebook and Instagram, citing risks to children's mental health. The company faces a potential penalty of up to $12 billion.
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The European Union’s tech regulator told Meta on Friday to overhaul Facebook and Instagram’s “addictive” design or face penalties of up to $12 billion.
The European Commission singled out “highly personalized recommendations, autoplay and infinite scroll” as features that combine to keep users – including children – hooked on the platforms. The agency said Meta needs to remove infinite scroll, introduce “screen time breaks” and retool its recommendation system so it is “less engagement oriented.”
Companies that fail to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act can be fined up to 6% of annual revenue. Based on Meta’s fiscal 2025 revenue, the potential fine works out to about $12 billion, though EU penalties in similar cases have come in well below that ceiling.
“The Commission’s investigation indicates that Meta did not adequately assess the risks of its addictive design on the physical and mental wellbeing of users, including minors and vulnerable adults,” the European Commission said in a press release. “These features fuel the user’s urge to keep scrolling and shift the brain into ‘autopilot mode’, contributing to unhealthy habits and compulsive use.”
EU investigators also found that Meta “disregarded available information about the time minors spend on Instagram or Facebook at night and how the optimization of its different formats – such as reels and stories – could lead to excessive or compulsive use of the services.”
Meta pushed back. “We disagree with these preliminary findings, which don’t accurately take into account the significant steps we’ve taken to protect teens,” a company spokesperson said. Meta pointed to its Teen Accounts feature, which gives parents the option to block their children’s access to Facebook and Instagram at night.
The company has faced mounting scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic over its role in social media addiction and online harm. Earlier this year, the European Commission ruled that Meta failed to keep users under 13 off its platforms. The company also faces more than 2,400 U.S. lawsuits over its addictive features and suffered back-to-back court losses in Los Angeles and New Mexico this year, which critics called a “Big Tobacco moment” for social media.
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