EU investigates Meta into addictive effects of Facebook and Instagram on children

The European Union is investigating Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, over the potentially addictive effects of its platforms on children.

The bloc’s executive arm, the European Commission, opened “formal proceedings” against the tech giant on Thursday to investigate whether it violated Digital Services Act (DSA) protections for minors.

The commission noted in a press release that the design of Facebook and Instagram “may exploit the weaknesses and inexperience of minors and cause addictive behavior.”

It is also investigating age verification tools employed by Meta that “may not be reasonable, proportionate and effective”, as well as its efforts to “ensure a high level of privacy, security and protection for minors”.

“We are not convinced that [Meta] has done enough to meet DSA obligations to mitigate the risks of negative effects on the physical and mental health of young Europeans on its Facebook and Instagram platforms,” European Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a statement.

“We will now investigate in depth the potential addictive and ‘rabbit hole’ effects of the platforms, the effectiveness of their age verification tools and the level of privacy granted to minors in the operation of recommendation systems,” he added. “We are sparing no effort to protect our children.”

Meta was already under investigation by the European Commission for possible DSA violations related to misleading advertising and political content.

The tech giant emphasized in a statement that it spent “a decade developing more than 50 tools, features and resources” to protect young people.

“This is a challenge the entire industry is facing, which is why we continue to develop industry-wide solutions for age assurance that apply to every app teens access,” said a Meta spokesperson. “We look forward to sharing details of our work with the European Commission.”

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