The European Union is escalating its effort to reshape how social media platforms operate, issuing preliminary findings that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram may violate the Digital Services Act (DSA) by relying on design features that encourage compulsive use.
If upheld, the ruling could force significant changes to two of the world’s largest social media platforms, and further intensify the global debate over how much responsibility technology companies bear for users’ online behavior.
According to the European Commission, Meta failed to adequately assess and mitigate the risks posed by several core features of Facebook and Instagram, including infinite scrolling, autoplay videos, push notifications, and highly personalized recommendation algorithms.
Regulators argue these tools are intentionally designed to maximize engagement by encouraging users to continue consuming content with little interruption, increasing the risk of unhealthy or compulsive usage, particularly among minors and other vulnerable users.
The Commission contends that these design choices can place users into what it describes as an “autopilot mode,” making it more difficult to disengage from the platforms.
Officials also criticized Meta’s existing safeguards, arguing that current parental controls and screen-time management tools do not sufficiently reduce these risks.
As a result, EU regulators are demanding that Meta rethink several of these engagement-driven features. Among the changes being considered are reducing or eliminating infinite scroll and autoplay by default, encouraging users to take screen-time breaks, and modifying recommendation systems to prioritize user well-being over maximizing engagement.
The action stems from the European Union’s Digital Services Act, which requires very large online platforms to identify and reduce systemic risks to users. Unlike previous regulations that focused primarily on content moderation or privacy, the DSA also scrutinizes the design of digital products, particularly when that design may contribute to harmful behavior.
Meta has pushed back against the Commission’s preliminary findings, arguing that it has already invested heavily in protecting younger users through initiatives such as Teen Accounts, expanded parental supervision tools, and built-in screen-time reminders.
The company says the Commission’s conclusions fail to recognize the safeguards it has implemented over the past several years.
The investigation is still ongoing, and Meta will have an opportunity to respond before the Commission issues a final decision. If regulators ultimately determine that the company violated the DSA, Meta could face fines of up to 6% of its annual global revenue.
Regardless of the outcome, the case represents another milestone in Europe’s increasingly aggressive approach to regulating large technology companies.
Rather than focusing solely on harmful content, policymakers are now examining whether the very architecture of social media platforms, including the features that keep users scrolling, should be subject to government oversight.
While the case centers on European law, its effects could extend well beyond the EU. Because Meta operates on a global scale, changes made to satisfy European regulators often find their way into products used by Americans as well.
That could mean less personalized feeds, reduced engagement features, and new challenges for creators and small businesses that depend on social media to reach audiences. More broadly, the case highlights a growing debate over who should shape the online experience: technology companies, individual users, or government regulators. We always advocate for self-regulation first, before the government ever takes a heavy-handed regulatory approach, such as in this case. When the unintended consequences are so great, we worry about what the EU’s outcomes will be for American users.
As policymakers continue to wrestle with concerns about online safety, the outcome of this dispute may influence not only how social media platforms are designed, but also who gets to decide what a healthy digital experience looks like. And as governments around the world continue debating online safety, especially for children and teenagers, Europe’s latest action may serve as a blueprint for future regulation of social media platforms.