The European Commission has initiated proceedings against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, on suspicions of violations of child protection laws. The Brussels authority announced on Thursday that the design of the services, including their algorithms, may induce addictive behavior in children.

Particularly worrying are so-called "rabbit hole" effects, in which users become so immersed in a topic that they can't detach themselves from it – similar to "Alice in Wonderland". In theory, algorithms could recognize such behavioral patterns and exploit them to increase the time spent on the platform.

The new EU Digital Services Act (DSA) obligates online platforms to provide special protection for minors. It prohibits personalized advertising for minors and requires an evaluation and mitigation of risks that promote addictive behavior. The Commission doubts whether Meta is sufficiently complying with these rules and expresses concerns about the company's age verification methods.

As part of the procedure, further evidence is now being collected, including through interviews. However, the initiation of the procedure only means that a suspicion is being investigated; a result is still pending.

By the end of April, the Commission had initiated proceedings against Meta on suspicion of violations of the DSA in handling political advertising. In addition to Meta, there are also proceedings against the online platform TikTok and the messaging service X (formerly Twitter). TikTok is accused of endangering the mental health of minors with its app version TikTok Lite. Against X, there is a proceeding due to insufficient responses to illegal and misleading posts about the Hamas attack on Israel.

The Meta stock closed on Thursday on the NASDAQ exchange 1.74 percent lower at 473.15 US dollars.