EU demands youth mode on social media to curb addictive features as Meta faces DSA violation probe
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22 days · 3 summary articles
EU demands youth mode on social media to curb addictive features as Meta faces DSA violation probe
EU accuses Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to be addictive, threatens fines
EU to propose social media age restrictions for children after summer break
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The European Union has demanded that social media platforms introduce a "youth mode" to protect children from addictive features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and highly personalized recommender systems. This call comes as the European Parliament's Committee on Culture voted on Tuesday to ensure that social media platforms adapt to make their environments safer for children and young people.
The European Commission has also found that Meta's Instagram and Facebook violate the Digital Services Act due to their addictive design features. According to the Commission, Meta did not adequately assess the risks of its addictive design on the physical and mental wellbeing of users, including minors and vulnerable adults. The features in question include infinite scrolling, autoplay videos, constant notifications, and highly personalized recommendation systems.
The Commission's preliminary findings suggest that Meta should disable autoplay and infinite scroll by default, implement effective screen-time breaks, and adapt its recommender system to make it less engagement-oriented. If confirmed, Meta could face a fine of up to 6% of its total worldwide annual turnover.
The European Parliament's Committee on Culture has called for better enforcement of existing European rules and stressed that the online environment must be governed by the principles of privacy-by-design and safety-by-default, age-appropriate design, and algorithmic transparency. The committee also called for an "EU code of conduct" to regulate influencers and a common definition of "influencer marketing."
The move comes as the EU contemplates new restrictions on social media apps for children and teen users, with the potential of a full age-based ban. The European Commission's findings against Meta are part of a broader effort to ensure that social media platforms take responsibility for the safety of children and adolescents.
According to Eurostat, in 2024, up to 97% of young Europeans used the internet daily, with over 80% of young people in the European Union accessing social media every day. Children and young people aged 9 to 16 spend an average of 3 hours a day online.
The European Parliament's Committee on Culture has called for platforms to introduce risk-based recommendation systems and for personal liability to be established in the event of serious and persistent breaches of child protection rules. The issue of platform design is already a key focus for the European Commission.
The Commission's preliminary findings against Meta follow similar findings against TikTok in February 2026, marking a strategic move to enforce the Digital Services Act and protect minors from the negative effects of excessive digital exposure.
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