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European Commission Finds Facebook and Instagram Designed to Encourage Compulsive Use

A confirmed finding would let Brussels force default product changes or impose fines under the Digital Services Act.

Overview

  • The Commission issued preliminary DSA findings on Friday that Facebook and Instagram use features that create systemic risks by encouraging prolonged, compulsive use.
  • Investigators said infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications and highly personalised recommendation systems work together to remove natural stopping cues and extend sessions.
  • Brussels told Meta to make defaults safer by disabling autoplay and infinite scroll, adding effective screen‑time breaks, and shifting recommendations away from pure engagement optimisation.
  • The Commission judged Meta’s time tools, parental controls and mental‑health resources insufficient and said the company ignored internal data on teenagers’ night‑time use.
  • Meta disputes the assessment, will review the case file and submit a written defence, and the DSA process could still lead to binding orders or fines of up to 6% of global turnover.