The European Commission has preliminarily found Meta in breach of the Digital Services Act over the addictive design of Instagram and Facebook, opening the door to a fine that could run into billions of euros. The finding follows a two-year investigation launched in 2024 into whether Meta’s platforms comply with the European Union’s sweeping regulations for online platforms.
The Commission has taken specific aim at features including infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and highly personalised recommendation systems, saying Meta failed to adequately assess the risks these features pose to the physical and mental wellbeing of users, including minors and vulnerable adults. According to the Commission, these features fuel a user’s urge to keep scrolling and shift the brain into what it described as autopilot mode, contributing to unhealthy habits and compulsive use of the platforms. The regulator also accused Meta of disregarding evidence about how much time minors spend on Instagram and Facebook at night, and how formats such as Reels and Stories could encourage excessive or compulsive use.
The Commission has called on Meta to make structural design changes to both platforms, including disabling autoplay and infinite scroll by default, introducing effective screen time breaks, and adjusting its recommendation systems to make them less focused on maximising engagement. Regulators found that Meta’s existing safety measures, including time management tools activated by default for teenagers, can be easily dismissed and do not lead to a meaningful reduction in platform usage. The Commission added that parental control tools require a level of technical expertise and time commitment that undermines their effectiveness in addressing the risks posed by the platforms’ design.
Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s Executive Vice President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said protecting the physical and mental health of Europeans must be a priority for social media platforms, adding that the Digital Services Act provides a clear framework for holding platforms accountable for addictive design. The preliminary findings do not prejudge a final outcome, and Meta now has the right to examine the Commission’s investigation files and respond in writing before any non-compliance decision is issued. A Meta spokesperson said the company disagrees with the preliminary findings, arguing they do not accurately reflect the steps it has taken to protect teenagers on its platforms.
If the findings are ultimately confirmed, Meta faces a fine capped at 6 percent of its total worldwide annual turnover, a figure that could exceed 12 billion dollars based on the company’s 2025 revenue. The case marks the first time a Digital Services Act enforcement action has centred explicitly on design features as the source of a breach, rather than data practices or anti-competitive behaviour. It follows two previous fines issued under the law, a 120 million euro penalty against Elon Musk’s X in December and a larger 200 million euro fine against Chinese e-commerce platform Temu in May, and comes as Meta separately faces ongoing legal challenges in the United States, including claims from a coalition of state attorneys general that its platforms were designed to addict young users.
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