Remove addictive features or pay fine: EU tells Meta to fix Instagram, Facebook

The European Commission on Friday charged Meta Platforms with breaching the European Union's Digital Services Act, saying Instagram and Facebook contain features that are designed to keep users hooked and ordering the company to change them or risk hefty fines.The Commission's preliminary findings follow a two-year investigation into whether Meta has done enough to protect users, particularly children, from addictive platform design. Meta could face fines of up to 6% of its global annual turnover if found in breach.The EU regulator said Meta failed to adequately assess the addictive risks posed by highly personalised recommendations, autoplay and infinite scroll, adding that reels and stories on Facebook and Instagram could contribute to excessive or compulsive use.According to the Commission, Meta should disable features such as autoplay and infinite scroll by default, introduce effective screen-time breaks and make its recommendation system less focused on driving user engagement.