The European Commission has preliminarily found that Meta's Facebook and Instagram platforms employ "addictive design" features such as autoplay, infinite scroll, and highly personalized recommendation algorithms that harm users' physical and mental well-being, particularly minors and vulnerable adults [1, 2, 3].
The EU investigation, which began in May 2024, has lasted over two years and concluded that Meta breached the Digital Services Act by failing to fully assess and mitigate the risks posed by these features [1, 3, 4]. The commission warned Meta that it may face fines up to 6% of its global annual turnover if the findings are confirmed, which could reach approximately $12 billion based on Meta’s $200.97 billion turnover in 2025 [1, 4].
EU officials demand Meta disable autoplay and infinite scroll by default, implement effective screen-time breaks, and overhaul its recommendation system to reduce engagement-driven content[citation needed] [1, 2, 3]. Henna Virkkunen, EU tech chief, said, "Protecting the physical and mental health of Europeans must be a priority for social media platforms" [2].
Meta has introduced "Teen Accounts" and parental controls to cap daily screen time to 15 minutes and block night access on Instagram. However, the EU says these controls are insufficient because they can be easily dismissed or require parental technical expertise [1, 3, 5]. A Meta spokesperson responded, "We disagree with these preliminary findings, which don't accurately take into account the significant steps we've taken to protect teens." The company emphasized efforts to enable parental control, stating they "rolled out Teen Accounts that automatically protect teens and put parents in control—allowing them to block access to Instagram at night and cap daily screen time at just 15 minutes." [1, 6]
The EU also found that Meta violated its own terms and EU law by failing to stop children under 13 from using Facebook and Instagram [1, 7]. The commission said addictive features push users into "autopilot mode," encouraging compulsive use and raising mental health risks [1, 7].
Fabrizio Esposito, a law professor, noted the challenge for Meta, saying, "Meta needs from its own point of view to try to come up with a better business model or defend this one in front of every enforcement initiative as long as it can. When it loses and it is forced to change its business model, the consequences will be very significant in terms of turnover." [8]
A senior EU official stated, "We want to bring about change, and if we can get that change via commitments then we would be most happy." [2]
An EU expert panel on child safety online is scheduled to deliver recommendations on social media use by minors around July 13 or shortly thereafter [2, 9]. This will likely influence further regulatory and enforcement actions against Meta.
