European Commission Directs Meta to Change Facebook and Instagram Features

The European Commission on Friday directed Meta to disable or alter infinite scroll, autoplay, personalized recommendations, and push notifications on Facebook and Instagram. The regulator said these features create an endless stream of content and that Meta failed to properly assess risks to users' physical and mental health, including minors.

Existing screen time controls are easily overridden and require too much technical expertise from parents, the commission stated.

The commission issued its preliminary findings on July 10. It said Meta should disable key features so they are not turned on by default, adjust its content recommendation system to reduce engagement focus, and provide better tools to encourage screen time breaks. Meta faces potential fines of up to 6 percent of its global annual revenue if the findings are confirmed in a final decision.

Meta said the preliminary findings do not recognize steps the company has already taken to protect teens. Since the investigation began in 2024, Meta has rolled out Teen Accounts that automatically protect teens and allow parents to block access to Instagram at night and cap daily screen time at 15 minutes.

"We share the European Commission's commitment to providing teens with safe, positive online experiences and will continue to engage constructively with them," Meta said in a prepared statement.

Earlier in 2026 the EU said Meta had failed to prevent children under 13 from signing up for Facebook and Instagram and was not doing enough to identify and remove underage users after they opened accounts. Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president at the European Commission overseeing tech, said protecting the physical and mental health of Europeans must be a priority for social media platforms.

Meta has the opportunity to respond before a final decision is issued.