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  • 9 hours ago
EU demands Facebook and Instagram dismantle 'addictive' design features

The European Commission has taken aim at infinite scroll and autoplay on Instagram and Facebook, finding that Meta failed to adequately mitigate the risks its platforms pose to users' mental health, including children.

READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/07/10/instagram-and-facebook-hook-users-with-addictive-design-commission-finds

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00:00The European Commission has preliminarily found Meta in breach of the Digital Services
00:04Act, opening the door to a multi-billion euro fine over allegations that the tech giant
00:09intentionally designed its core platforms to exploit and hook young users.
00:13The executive charge sheet explicitly targets highly addictive features including infinite
00:18scroll, video autoplay, and push notifications, which regulators argue shift the human brain
00:24into an unthinking autopilot mode.
00:26Consequently, investigators concluded that Meta deliberately disregarded internal data
00:32showing how late-night usage damages the mental and physical well-being of teenagers.
00:37While Meta maintains that its current controls protect adolescents, European officials dismissed
00:42the existing time management and parental safety tools as fundamentally ineffective and easily
00:47bypassed by minors.
00:49The Commission has demanded structural changes to force less engagement-driven layouts, giving
00:54the company a formal window to examine the evidence and launch a legal defense.
01:00If these preliminary findings are ultimately confirmed, Meta faces an unprecedented financial
01:05penalty capped at 6% of its annual global turnover, a sum exceeding 11 billion euros based on recent
01:13revenue figures.
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