Meta was told by European Union regulators on Friday to make major design changes to Instagram and Facebook to make the services less addictive, or risk facing hefty fines.

Regulators in Brussels said that the “addictive design” of Meta’s two social media services violated European Union law and that it needed to remove features like “infinite scroll” and the automatic playing of videos. The technology giant should also introduce new “screen time breaks” and adjust its recommendation algorithm to make it “less engagement oriented,” authorities said.

The commission’s findings are preliminary, and Meta now has time to respond to the allegations before a final judgment is issued. A fine could run up to 6 percent of Meta’s global revenue, though regulators rarely issue penalties of that size.

The ruling is an unusually direct effort to force specific product design changes. It is the latest sign of the aggressive approach taken by European regulators to confront social media companies over what is seen as intentionally subversive efforts to hook users, especially children. In February, E.U. authorities accused TikTok of using similar design tricks to keep users coming back again and again.

Ben Walters, a spokesman for Meta, said the company disagreed with the findings, which “don’t accurately take into account the significant steps we’ve taken to protect teens.” He said the company had introduced teen accounts that allow parents to block access to Instagram at night and cap daily screen time.

The European Commission, the executive branch of the 27-nation bloc, is also weighing rules that could bar children from social media because of the apps’ addictive features — following Australia’s lead.

Europe’s aggressive regulation of the tech industry has drawn criticism from President Trump, who sees it as an attack on American companies.

In Brussels, officials have said they are weighing where to draw the line between a well-designed app that users enjoy and a harmfully addictive one. The European Union, home to roughly 450 million people, is one of the world’s largest markets for social media, but authorities there have become increasingly skeptical of the ways the companies operate.

On Friday, European regulators concluded that Meta had gone too far. The company was accused of violating a 2022 law, the Digital Services Act, by using design tactics to keep users, especially teenagers, hooked on Instagram and Facebook.

Authorities said features like personalized recommendations and an infinite scroll that constantly deliver new content “fuel the user’s urge to keep scrolling and shift the brain into autopilot mode.”

Such features lead to “unhealthy habits and compulsive use,” the authorities added.

Regulators said Meta did not adequately assess the risks of its products, including ignoring information about how much time users under the age of 18 spent on Instagram and Facebook at night. At the same time, features like Reels and Stories led to “excessive or compulsive” use of the services, authorities said.

Meta’s existing time-management tools are easily bypassed by younger users, and its parental controls are effective only if parents have technical savvy and can devote considerable time to monitoring, regulators said.

“Protecting the physical and mental health of Europeans must be a priority for social media platforms,” Henna Virkkunen, the executive vice president at the European Commission overseeing digital policy, said in a statement. “The Digital Services Act provides a clear framework to hold platforms accountable for the addictive design and effects of their services. We are fully committed to enforcing our legislation in Europe.”

Jeanna Smialek contributed reporting from Brussels.

The health app on your phone’s home screen has many uses, even if you don’t have a smartwatch or fitness tracker. With a little manual effort, you can use the app to get a better idea of your general wellness.

For example, you can keep a food-and-fitness diary there. Most phones provide a free basic step-counting function. And you can link other exercise and diet apps you use to streamline your data.

Many medical providers let you import records from your doctor, and you can create a “medical ID” for your phone’s lock screen in case of emergency.

Here’s how to get started.

Choose Your App

Although third-party options abound, the basic health apps from Google, Samsung and Apple have been available for years and have been steadily adding new features:

The menus in the health apps can be a little overwhelming, so take time to explore. Each app offers a place to manually log your daily workouts, food intake, emotional state and sleep time.

You can set up medication reminders. And if you use a compatible separate exercise or diet app, you can often link it to the health app so you don’t have to log updates twice.

Many phones have an automatic step-counting feature already enabled. While not as precise as some dedicated sensors, the step count shown on the main screens of Google Health, Samsung Health and Apple’s Health can give you a general idea of your daily distance. (If your phone isn’t counting your steps, check your settings to make sure the fitness-tracking feature is turned on.)

Sync Health Records

Many health care providers use “patient portal” sites like MyChart that allow you to log in and see your test results and other electronic medical records. If the provider’s site is compatible with your health app, you can synchronize those records to have them all in one place. You’ll need the login credentials you use for the provider’s online patient portal.

If you have confidentiality concerns about pulling in digital records to a different app, check your health app’s privacy policy before you proceed. Google Health, Samsung Health and Apple’s Health all have explanations on their sites. Note that federal privacy laws generally don’t apply to mobile devices.

The Google Health support site has a page of detailed instructions. To sync your records directly from your health care provider, open the Google Health app, tap the Connections icon in the upper-left corner of the screen and tap Medical Records; iOS users must tap Apps and Services first to get to the Medical Records option. On the Medical Records screen, select Manage Connections and then the Add More Providers button to search and sync your files.

In Samsung Health, open the app, tap the Home tab at the bottom of the screen, scroll down and tap to Health Records to get started.

In Apple’s Health app, from the Summary screen, tap your profile icon in the upper-right corner. On the next screen, tap Health Records and follow the onscreen prompts so you can view your files, test results and other data from your doctor, or share information.

Create a Medical ID

Even if you don’t plan to use it as a personal-health database, your phone can show important information to emergency medical workers on your phone’s lockscreen, should you be incapacitated. These details can include blood type, any current prescriptions or health conditions you have, and your organ-donor status.

On many Android models, open (or download and open) the Personal Safety app, and tap the Your Info tab at the bottom of the screen. There, you can add your medical information and an emergency contact person.

On a Samsung Galaxy phone, tap the Settings icon, select Safety and Emergency, and then tap the options for adding medical and emergency contact information.

On an iPhone, open the Health app. If you aren’t prompted to set up your Medical ID, tap your profile photo in the top-right corner and choose Medical ID. On the next screen, add or edit the details you wish to share, and give permission to have the information displayed when your phone is locked.

Setting up a smartphone medical ID is worth your time: A recent study led by the University of Rochester showed the information was useful for patient care in 75 percent of cases.