Imagine opening Instagram and autoplay is just… off. Infinite scroll too. That’s roughly what Brussels is asking for. The European Commission published preliminary findings on Friday accusing Meta of breaching the Digital Services Act by designing Facebook and Instagram to keep people glued to their screens, and the fix it wants goes right at the core mechanics of both apps.
The investigation, running since 2024, focused on infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and personalized recommendations – features regulators say push the brain into “autopilot mode” and feed compulsive use. The Commission also found Meta disregarded information about how much time teens spend on its apps at night, and that the existing safety tools don’t do enough. Time management prompts get dismissed in a tap, and parental controls only work if the parents happen to be technical.
What the EC says Meta needs to change:
- Autoplay and infinite scroll off by default.
- Screen time breaks that actually interrupt usage.
- A recommender system that’s less engagement-oriented.
Meta isn’t having it. “We disagree with these preliminary findings, which don’t accurately take into account the significant steps we’ve taken to protect teens,” a spokesperson said, pointing to the Teen Accounts rolled out since the investigation began.
The findings are preliminary and Meta gets to respond in writing before anything is final. But the money at stake is real: a confirmed breach carries a fine capped at 6% of worldwide annual turnover, which works out to over $12 billion against Meta’s 2025 revenue of just under $201 billion. And the Commission has shown it will actually pull the trigger – the first two DSA fines landed on X (€120 million, December) and Temu (€200 million, May).
