A children’s representative group has expressed concern at a preliminary finding against the “addictive” design of Facebook and Instagram.
The European Commission said on Friday it had reached a interim conclusion that Instagram and Facebook features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and highly personalised recommender systems contribute to “unhealthy habits and compulsive use”.
It said that as a result, Meta could be in breach of the Digital Services Act.
It said Meta’s mitigation measures “failed to effectively tackle the risks” stemming from its “addictive” design and that it may need to disable the autoplay and infinite scroll as a default and implement effective screen-time breaks.
Meta now has the chance to respond and defend itself before the commission issues its final decision, which could result in a fine worth up to 6% of the group’s global annual revenue.
Meta said on Friday that early findings do not recognise the steps that the company has already taken and its commitment to protecting teenage users.
The Children’s Rights Alliance, an independent non-governmental organisation that represents children and young people, said it was “extremely concerned” at the interim findings against Meta.
“These findings bolster calls from the Children’s Rights Alliance and other concerned advocacy groups, parents and young people – for a more robust regulatory response to harmful online content,” said Noeline Blackwell, online safety coordinator with the Children’s Rights Alliance.
“Not only that, but the Commission also found that Meta disregarded information and evidence about how much time children and young people spend on Instagram and Facebook at night and the role their design formats play in encouraging compulsive and excessive engagement.”
“While not the final outcome of the investigation, the ball is now in Meta’s court to act.
“We welcome the Commission’s proposal of disabling these key addictive features.
“We would go further and call for a safety-by-design approach that would see these major tech players address the harms that occur on their sites and services.
“That is the standard required for most other products disseminated in the EU. Why should this tech giant be different?
“While there is a long road ahead to ensure these platforms are accountable for harms that occur on their sites, at the very least, they should be held responsible for the harms caused by their own design.”
