The European Commission concluded on Friday that Meta has breached EU digital regulations, citing the intentionally “addictive” design architecture of Instagram and Facebook. A formal investigation by the bloc’s executive arm took aim at engagement-driving features such as infinite scrolling, automatic video playback, intrusive push notifications, and AI-driven personalised recommendations.
Brussels alleges that Meta failed to sufficiently assess the psychological impact of these features on younger users and vulnerable adults. According to the Commission, the platforms trigger a compounding “urge to keep scrolling” that effectively places the user’s brain on autopilot. Furthermore, regulators accused the tech giant of negligence for failing to act on data it holds regarding children using the apps late at night.
The preliminary ruling follows a similar enforcement action taken in February, when the EU deployed identical arguments to charge TikTok with violating the Digital Services Act (DSA) over its own algorithmic stickiness.
Meta now has a window to formalise its defence and contest the findings. However, if the tech giant fails to satisfy regulators or implement sweeping modifications to its user interface, it faces a maximum penalty of up to 6 per cent of its global annual turnover under the strict conditions of the DSA.
The warning shots fired at Meta come amid a broader regulatory clampdown by Brussels on Silicon Valley. Recently, social media rival X was hit with a €120 million fine over deceptive advertising practices linked to its premium blue checkmarks, which are ostensibly designed to verify user identity.
The regulatory pressure matches growing legal scrutiny from civil society; in April, the Dutch privacy foundation SOMI initiated a class-action lawsuit against Meta in Denmark, alleging that the company knowingly and deliberately exposed children to predatory, habit-forming digital features.
@anp | NEWS BRAINPORT
