TL;DR
The European Commission issued preliminary findings on Friday accusing Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to be addictive, asking it to disable autoplay and infinite scrolling by default or face fines of up to 6% of global revenue. The findings come days before an EU panel of experts issues its recommendation on a minimum age on social media.
The European Commission issued preliminary findings on Friday accusing Meta of creating Facebook and Instagram to be addictive, giving the company a formal opportunity to respond before Brussels reaches a final decision that could lead to fines of up to 6% of its global annual revenue. Based on Meta’s 2025 revenue of approximately $201 billion, that ceiling sits at around $12 billion.
The Commission’s case focuses on architecture, not content. the investigationlaunched in May 2024, found that features like autoplay, infinite scrolling, and highly personalized recommendation feeds “fuel the user’s need to keep scrolling and put the brain on ‘autopilot mode,’ contributing to unhealthy habits and compulsive use.”
What Brussels wants to change
The Commission told Meta to disable autoplay and infinite scrolling in the default settings, implement effective screen time breaks, and readjust its recommendation algorithm away from pure engagement maximization. Time management tools already built into apps, he said, are too easy to dismiss and “do not lead to significant reduction or control of service usage.”
Meta disagreed, and spokesman Ben Walters said the findings “do not accurately take into account the important steps we have taken to protect teens.” He pointed to teen accounts, launched on Instagram in 2024, that “automatically protect teens and give parents control.”
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A Commission official responded that teen accounts can be easily discarded and do not provide enough friction to change regular usage. Parental controls also require “appropriate technical expertise, time and effort,” according to the findings, placing an undue burden on families.
A pattern of findings
Friday’s action is the third set of preliminary findings the Commission has issued against Meta under the DSA. Previous charges accused the company of failing to keep children under 13 off its platforms. and providing insufficient transparency to external researchers.
The theory of addictive design liability is not new in Brussels. Commission Moves Against TikTok’s Rewards-Based Engagement Features in 2024 and issued similar preliminary findings against TikTok’s overall addictive design in February, making Meta the second major platform to receive this specific charge.
The question about the minimum age comes on Monday
The timing is deliberate: A panel of experts appointed by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will present its recommendations on Monday on whether the EU should set a minimum age for social media. Von der Leyen has already expressed support for the restrictions, and a legislative proposal could arrive in the fall.
EU child safety legislation has suffered repeated delays over conflicts between privacy law and content scanning proposals, but political momentum behind age restrictions has grown across the bloc. Twenty-three of the 27 EU member states are considering or have already enacted laws to restrict children’s access to social media.
Regulatory pressure builds
Addictive design finds come along with a separate Commission decision that Meta’s “pay or consent” advertising model violates the Digital Markets Act. Meta is challenging both sets of findings and no final decision or fine has yet been issued in either case.
The preliminary findings give Meta the right to examine the evidence collected and present an official defense. If the Commission confirms an infringement, it has the power to impose structural remedies and, if ignored, periodic periodic penalty payments in addition to the base fine.
