Meta is currently under investigation by the European Commission regarding claims that its design features on Instagram and Facebook are harmful and addictive. Preliminary findings released on 10 July suggest that the US tech giant’s use of infinite scrolling and attention-capture mechanisms violates the Digital Services Act 2022, a regulation designed to protect EU citizens from illegal content, scams, and broader internet harms.
According to the Commission, Mark Zuckerberg’s conglomerate has failed to properly assess the addiction risks associated with these design choices and lacks effective mitigation strategies. Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier stated that there is a notable absence of effective screen-time measurement, awareness-raising measures, and parental control tools. While the social media network has proposed time management settings, the Commission noted that these are widely ineffective and place an unfair technical burden on parents.
The investigation highlights that personalised recommendations and autoplay fuel the user’s urge to keep scrolling, leading to compulsive use, sleep deprivation, and heightened mental health risks. Meta currently reaches 270 million users within the EU, accounting for more than half of the continent's population.
Should Meta be unable to contest the findings, and should the preliminary breach hold throughout the commission’s investigation, the social media giant could face a fine capped at six percent of its global annual turnover. Given Meta’s 2025 revenue of €176 billion, potential fines could climb as high as €11 billion. This move follows previous enforcement actions by the EU, including a €200 million fine in April 2025 for non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act and a €797 million fine issued in 2024 concerning malpractice related to Facebook Marketplace advertisements.