The European Commission has issued preliminary findings that Meta's Facebook and Instagram use "addictive" designs that breach the EU's Digital Services Act. The regulator concluded that Meta failed to adequately assess how features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications and personalised recommendation systems affect the physical and mental wellbeing of users, including minors and vulnerable adults. The finding matters because, if confirmed, it could force sweeping design changes to two of the world's most widely used apps and expose Meta to substantial financial penalties.

The Commission opened its investigation in May 2024, focusing on addiction and child-safety concerns, and now says features like stories and reels encourage compulsive use. Meta told CNBC it disagrees with the findings, arguing the Commission ignored "significant steps" such as its "Teen Accounts", which let parents block night-time access and cap daily screen time at 15 minutes. Regulators countered that these tools are easily dismissed and only work for parents with technical expertise, and they want Meta to disable autoplay and infinite scroll by default, add "screen time breaks" and make its algorithms less engagement-focused. Meta can contest the findings and review the evidence used, but if they are upheld it could face fines of up to 6 percent of its total annual turnover.