Protection of minors
Addictive "rabbit-hole" design exploiting minors, the effectiveness of age assurance, and prevention of under-13 access.
- Art. 28
- Art. 34
- Art. 35
- Formal proceedings opened
Whether Meta assessed and mitigated risks from Facebook & Instagram interface design causing addictive behaviour, and the effectiveness of its age-verification tools. Source ↗
- Preliminary findings — under-13s
Meta preliminarily in breach for failing to prevent under-13s from accessing the services: false birth dates accepted with no effective controls, and an ineffective reporting tool for minors’ accounts. Source ↗
- Preliminary finding — addictive design
Meta preliminarily in breach over the addictive design of Facebook & Instagram (infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, engagement-driven recommenders): it did not adequately assess the risks to users’ physical and mental well-being, including minors and vulnerable adults. The Commission wants default changes such as disabling infinite scroll and autoplay. Source ↗