Meta has been found in preliminary breach of the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) over the "addictive" design of Instagram and Facebook, and could be forced to redesign both apps as well as face a fine of up to $12 billion (roughly £9 billion). The European Commission concluded that Meta failed to adequately assess the risks its design poses to the "physical and mental wellbeing of users, including minors and vulnerable adults", singling out features such as personalised recommendations, autoplay and infinite scroll for keeping users compulsively scrolling. The finding matters because it signals the EU's willingness to enforce sweeping design changes on major platforms and could reshape how social media apps operate across the bloc.

The Commission also criticised Meta's existing safeguards, saying time-management tools can be easily dismissed, parental controls demand too much technical effort, and its mental-health measures are too limited. It has suggested disabling autoplay and infinite scroll by default, adding effective screentime breaks and making the recommendation algorithm less engagement-oriented. The investigation began in May 2024 and is separately examining Meta's age-verification and child-protection measures; a final decision could bring a fine of up to 6 percent of worldwide annual turnover, which was $200.97 billion in 2025. The move comes as the EU weighs a bloc-wide social media ban for under-16s and as Meta faces a US trial in August over whether its apps are intentionally addictive, with four states reportedly seeking combined penalties of up to $1.4 trillion.