EU Commission preliminarily finds Meta's Instagram, Facebook violate Digital Services Act

Brussels — The European Commission issued a preliminary finding on Friday stating that Meta's use of addictive design features on Instagram and Facebook violates the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA).

Investigation Background

The EU's executive body has been investigating child safety concerns on Meta's platforms since May 2024. In its initial findings, the Commission determined that the US tech giant failed to implement robust safeguards to protect users' mental and physical well-being, including teenagers.

Key Findings on Addictive Features

The Commission specifically highlighted Meta's use of the following addictive design elements:

• Highly personalised content recommender systems
• Infinite scroll
• Autoplay
• Push notifications

These features, the Commission found, could lead users to accumulate excessive screen time. Meta's engagement-focused design choices encourage users to keep scrolling, creating an unhealthy environment by shifting "the brain into autopilot mode," according to the Commission.

Insufficient Safeguards

The Commission also examined several digital tools developed by Meta that were ostensibly intended to curb addiction risks, including:

• Time management tools
• Parental controls
• Screen time awareness pages

The Commission found these measures insufficient, stating they did not place convincing limits on the addictive features embedded in Meta's platforms.

Teen Accounts Under Scrutiny

The investigation further assessed Meta's teen accounts, which began rolling out in the EU in 2024. A senior Commission official told journalists that these accounts also failed to meet the DSA's thresholds for adequately protecting teens.

The same official noted that default settings on the accounts "can be easily dismissed," and added that Meta's parental control measures are ineffective, requiring users to be an "expert" to even find or activate them.

Next Steps and Potential Penalties

The Commission is now requesting that Meta make design changes to Instagram and Facebook, including:

• Disabling autoplay and infinite scrolling features by default
• Modifying content recommender systems to make them "less engagement-oriented"

Meta retains the opportunity to respond to and refute the Commission's preliminary findings. If the bloc's suspicions are ultimately confirmed, the tech giant could face fines of up to 6% of its global turnover and be compelled to make its platforms less "sticky."

Broader Context

This development follows a series of DSA probes conducted by the Commission this year targeting child safety concerns. In another finding on Meta in April, the EU's executive stated that the company was failing to keep under-13s off Facebook and Instagram.

In February, the Commission also found Chinese video-sharing app TikTok to be unlawfully addictive, requiring it to make changes to the basic design of its services to comply with the DSA.