There European Commission has preliminarily noted one possible violation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) on the part of Halfthe company that owns Facebook and Instagram, due to the way the two platforms are designed and for the potential effects of some features on user behavior.
The investigation focuses in particular on the so-called “addictive design“, i.e. on elements of the interface and algorithms that could encourage prolonged and difficult to interrupt use of the services.
According to Brussels, Meta did not carry out a sufficiently thorough assessment of the risks associated with these characteristics, especially in relation to the physical and mental well-being of the most vulnerable users, including minors and young adults. Among the aspects analyzed include the highly personalized recommendation system, automatic content playback and infinite feed scrolling mechanism.
The Commission claims that these functions are designed to keep the level of engagement highcontinuously showing new content and encouraging the user to continue browsing. According to the analysis conducted as part of the investigation, the combination of notifications, automatically suggested content and formats such as Reels and Stories could contribute to the formation of habits of excessive useleading users to continue scrolling almost automatically.
The preliminary document also highlights that Meta did not adequately consider some data relating to the time spent by minors across platforms, including late-night use of Facebook and Instagram. The optimization of different video formats and recommendation systems would, according to the Commission, be an element that can increase the risk of compulsive use.
Brussels expressed doubts also about the effectiveness of the tools made available by Meta to limit the time spent on the platforms. Usage management features, including those automatically turned on for teens, would be easily ignored and would not produce a significant reduction in time spent on services.
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Parental control systems are also considered insufficient. According to the Commission, these tools are only truly effective when parents and guardians have adequate technical skills and dedicate time to configuring and monitoring the settings. Mental health information initiatives, such as links to dedicated resources within Meta’s security centers, would not be sufficient to mitigate risks related to application design.
In light of the preliminary conclusions, the European Commission deems it necessary to intervene directly on the functioning of Instagram and Facebook. Among the hypothesized changes are the autoplay and infinite scrolling disabled by defaultthe introduction of more effective breaks to control the time spent online and a review of recommendation systems so that they are less exclusively oriented towards increasing engagement.
However, the investigation does not represent a final decision. Meta will now have the opportunity to consult the investigation documents and present its observations to the European Commission. At the same time, the European Board for Digital Services, the body responsible for supporting the application of the Digital Services Act, will also be involved.
If the preliminary assessments are confirmed, Brussels could issue a decision of non-compliance with the DSA. European legislation provides fines of up to 6% of the affected platform’s worldwide annual turnover. Considering that Meta recorded revenues of approximately 200.97 billion dollars in 2025, the theoretical fine could reach a figure in the order of 12 billion dollars.
Brussels is also carrying out separate checks on the age control measures adopted by Meta for users under 13 and on the effects of recommendation systems, including the so-called “rabbit holes”, i.e. content paths that could expose users, especially younger ones, to progressive personalization of content.
“Protecting the physical and mental health of Europeans must be a priority for social platforms,” said Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice President of the European Commission responsible for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy. According to Virkkunen, the Digital Services Act offers a clear regulatory framework to make platforms responsible for the design of their services and their effects on users.
