A new investigation opened by the European Union against Meta, the United States-based social media company, is questioning the addictive effect Facebook and Instagram have on children. The European Commission—the executive arm of the EU—opened “formal proceedings” against Meta last week to see if the company violated the Digital Services Act’s (DSA) protections for minors.
The investigation includes how the company’s products are designed, which “may exploit the weaknesses and inexperience of minors and cause addictive behavior,” a press release reported.
“We are not convinced that [Meta] has done enough to comply with the DSA obligations to mitigate the risks of negative effects to the physical and mental health of young Europeans on its platforms Facebook and Instagram,” Thierry Breton, European Commissioner, said.
While Meta is already under investigation due to possible “DSA violations related to deceptive advertising and political content,” The Hill reported, the company said in a statement that it has spent “a decade developing more than 50 tools, features and resources” to protect children.
“This is a challenge the whole industry is facing, which is why we’re continuing to advance industry-wide solutions to age-assurance that are applied to all apps teens access,” a spokesperson for Meta said. “We look forward to sharing details of our work with the European Commission.”
The EU isn’t the only one to open an investigation, three dozen states have also sued Meta for using “psychologically manipulative product features” that work to entice children in violation of consumer protection laws.
“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 afforded to minors in the functioning of recommender systems,” Breton said. “We are sparing no effort to protect our children.”
COMMENTS