The EU Commission is waiting on Meta to present changes to limit the addictive designs of its social networks, a commission spokesperson has said.
Governments around the world are trying to curb children’s access to harmful online content, including a world-first ban in Australia late last year on social media for children under 16.
“We have been very clear .. we expect proper screen time management, we expect proper parental control on these platforms. Meta knows … the ball is in Meta’s court,” the commission spokesperson said.
In a statement, the Irish Department of Communications said there were investigations ongoing into whether some social media platforms are in breach of obligations to protect children online.
It said the European Commission was preparing proposals for additional legislation to further enhance protection of children online and are expected in the next few months.
“As the protection of children and young people online is a key theme of Ireland’s EU Presidency, we will give priority to the negotiations on those proposals as soon as they emerge,” it said.
The Government has previously expressed support for social media restrictions for children but has repeatedly said its preference would be for any ban to be implemented at EU level.
Last month, the EU charged Meta’s Instagram and Facebook with breaching its technology rules, with regulators targeting features they say are designed to keep users hooked and demanding changes to autoplay and infinite scroll or risk fines.
The European Commission said Meta had failed to adequately assess the addictive risks posed by highly personalised recommendations, autoplay and infinite scroll.
Meta said in a statement at the time that it disagreed with the findings, saying they did not take into account the “significant steps” the company had taken to protect teenagers.
Call for new Meta measures to be applied globally
Earlier, South Korea’s media regulator said measures proposed by Meta to curb potentially addictive features for young users should ideally be applied worldwide,
The Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) said in a statement that social media companies needed to take greater responsibility for protecting children and teenagers and pointed to seven bills pending in the country’s parliament aimed at strengthening youth protections online.
The commission “believes that in order to create an environment in which Korean youth can use social networking services safely, it is necessary to strengthen social media providers’ responsibility to protect minors,” the regulator said.
The comments followed landmark US settlements announced yesterday under which Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion and implement a series of changes to Facebook and Instagram after several states accused the company of designing products that contributed to youth addiction and harmed mental health.
The measures include limits on usage time, restrictions on notifications, stronger age-verification tools, the option of non-algorithmic feeds and hiding “likes” and similar engagement metrics for younger users.
The KMCC said that, among Meta’s proposed corrective measures, changes to features that may encourage excessive use, including algorithm-based content recommendations, display of engagement metrics such as likes, and push notifications designed to draw users back onto platforms, “would ideally be applied to youth users worldwide as well”.
South Korea has also been moving toward stricter oversight of social media use by minors amid growing concerns about excessive screen time and the role of recommendation algorithms in keeping young users engaged.
The debate mirrors a broader global push to protect children online, though proposed restrictions on minors’ social media use have drawn criticism over privacy concerns and questions about enforcement.
British government expects Meta’s new protections to apply in UK
In the UK, the British government expects Meta’s new protections for teenagers to also apply in Britain.
British Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said he did not want young people in America to have “a higher rate of protection” than young people in Britain.
However, he added that the UK Government is also going further and will implement a social media ban for young people next year.
This morning, Poland’s minister of digital affairs said he has asked the European Commission to impose a €250m fine on Meta.
“I also call on Meta to immediately introduce effective tools to eliminate scams, false advertising, and the promotion of illegal applications,” Krzysztof Gawkowski posted on X.
Meta deal shows firms can protect young users, Australia says
Australian regulators meanwhile said Meta’s move to restrict teenagers use of social media shows companies have tools to better protect young people online.
Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells said social media companies “have the tools at their disposal to protect young people from their addictive features but have chosen not to use them”.
“That’s why Australia took world-leading action to create a minimum age for social media, and we are proud that more than 20 countries are joining us,” she added.
In the US, social media companies still face thousands of lawsuits in federal and state courts by individuals, school districts, municipalities and other government entities claiming they knowingly sought to addict children and caused a mental health crisis including harms such as anxiety, depression and suicide.
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