The EU accuses Instagram and Facebook: ‘They’re addictive’

BRUSSELS – The European Commission announced today, Friday 10 July, that it considers two of Meta’s subsidiaries – Instagram and Facebook – to be in breach of the Digital Services Act. According to an initial assessment, the Commission accuses the two companies of causing addiction among users. Among other things, it highlights the platforms’ endless scrolling of images, autoplay, notifications and highly personalised recommendation systems.

“Safeguarding the physical and mental health of European citizens must be a priority for digital platforms,” explained Henna Virkkunen, Vice-President of the European Commission, in a statement. “The Digital Services Act provides a clear regulatory framework to hold platforms accountable for the design of their services – to prevent addiction – and, more generally, for the consequences of their services. We are fully committed to enforcing our legislation across Europe.”

According to a preliminary investigation by the European Commission, the data collected shows that the current mitigation measures adopted by Meta have failed to effectively address the risks arising from the design of the two applications. At this stage of the investigation, the Commission considers that Meta must make ‘design changes’ to both Instagram and Facebook. This initial assessment does not prejudge the final outcome of the investigation, Brussels has clarified.

Should the Commission’s findings be confirmed, it could issue a decision finding non-compliance, which could result in a fine proportionate to the nature, gravity, recurrence and duration of the infringement, capped at 6 per cent of the company’s global annual turnover. This latest move by Brussels in the digital sphere comes at a time when Europe is debating whether and how to restrict young people’s use of social media.

Speaking in Cork on Friday 3 July, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, explained that a group of experts will shortly present a series of recommendations to the European Commission. “We hope to obtain a comprehensive overview that will enable us to draw up a legislative proposal to introduce restrictions on the use of social media” depending on the user’s age.