EC considers Instagram, Facebook dangerous for children's mental health

The European Commission has reached a preliminary conclusion that Meta's Instagram and Facebook platforms violate the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) due to risks to the mental and physical health of users, particularly children and adolescents, Commission Spokesperson Thomas Regnier said at a briefing in Brussels, Report informs.

He stated that the investigation revealed that the company failed to properly assess the risks associated with features such as infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications, and highly personalized recommendation algorithms, and failed to implement effective mitigation measures.

"Children spend hours on Instagram and Facebook. This is a result of Meta's features such as autoplay, highly personalized recommendation systems, and push notifications.

That is why the EC has reached a preliminary conclusion today that Meta violates the DSA due to its addictive design," Regnier said.

He noted that approximately 270 million people in the European Union use Meta's services, and almost half of children already have an Instagram account by age 12, even though this is below the minimum age stipulated by the company's rules.

According to a Commission representative, the consequences of such use are reflected in increased anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders among minors.

According to the Commission's published preliminary findings, Meta failed to consider the impact of its algorithms and platform features on the development of compulsive user behavior.

Specifically, the investigation found that the company ignored existing data on how much time minors spend on Instagram and Facebook at night, as well as how Reels and Stories formats can contribute to excessive use of the services.

The European Commission also considers existing measures to limit platform usage time insufficient.

Mental health information materials posted in a separate section of the Safety Centre were also deemed insufficient.

The Commission believes that Meta should change the architecture of both platforms.

Possible measures include disabling autoplay and infinite feed features by default, implementing effective break reminders, and changing recommendation algorithms to be less focused on maximizing user engagement.

Meta will now be able to review the investigation materials and submit written objections.

If the preliminary position is upheld, the company may face a fine of up to 6% of its global annual revenue.