EU Proposal to Regulate Social Media Platforms

The European Union has proposed a set of regulations to restrict minors' access to social media later this year. This comes as META finds itself under fresh scrutiny from the EU over allegedly addictive features on Facebook and Instagram.

The European Commission has preliminarily found that the addictive design of these platforms, including infinite scroll, autoplay, and push notifications, breaches the Digital Services Act, and is calling on Meta to disable those features by default and add screen-time breaks. Meta faces potential fines of up to 6% of its global annual revenue if it does not comply, and the company has said it disagrees with the Commission's preliminary findings.

As regulators consider these changes, there is ongoing debate about the impact on social media platforms and their role in the lives of users, particularly children. The proposed regulation may potentially force platforms to rethink their approach to user engagement, with some fearing it could result in the removal of features that keep users scrolling.