Report from Reuters
In Brief – The European Commission has issued preliminary findings that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram breach the EU’s Digital Services Act by using design features that encourage excessive engagement. The findings follow a two-year investigation into whether Meta has adequately assessed and mitigated risks to users, particularly children and teenagers. The Commission argues that Reels and Stories that feature short-form videos can contribute to excessive use and says Meta’s safeguards are inadequate. It criticized the company’s time-management and parental control tools. Regulators said Meta should disable autoplay and infinite scrolling by default, introduce more effective screen-time breaks and reduce the emphasis its recommendation systems place on maximizing engagement. Meta rejected the preliminary findings, saying they fail to recognize the significant steps it has taken to protect young users, including Teen Accounts that automatically apply stronger safeguards, allow parents to block nighttime Instagram access and limit daily screen time.
Context – The European Commission announced similar preliminary DSA findings against TikTok’s design in February, also identifying features infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and its highly personalized recommender system. The charge that social media platforms are “addictive” is highly debatable, but it’s all the rage globally. The focus on features like autoplay emerged in the US as part of a legal strategy to circumvent the platforms’ protections under Sec. 230. Many states have enacted laws in recent years regulating the same platform features targeted by the EU in this case. Most have been blocked by federal judges for violating the First Amendment, although that trend is wavering as circuit court appeals panels wave away First Amendment protections for teens. Setting age thresholds to keep teens off social media, which was first employed in Australia, is taking off in countries around the world. In Australia, many teens are finding workarounds, but those that are blocked are getting less access to news reports.