The European Union has told Meta that the "addictive design" of Facebook and Instagram may break its rules, and it wants features like infinite scroll and autoplay switched off by default. On Friday, July 10, 2026, the European Commission published preliminary findings from a two-year investigation, saying Meta breached the Digital Services Act (DSA) — the EU's law for very large online platforms. The Commission says Meta failed to properly measure and reduce the risks its design poses to users' physical and mental health.
Key Takeaways
- The European Commission published preliminary findings on July 10, 2026 that Meta's Facebook and Instagram breach the EU's Digital Services Act over "addictive design."
- The features named are infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and the highly personalized feeds that decide what you see next.
- The Commission wants Meta to turn off autoplay and infinite scroll by default, add real screen-time breaks, and make its feeds less focused on maximizing engagement.
- If confirmed, the fine could reach 6% of Meta's worldwide annual revenue — more than $12 billion (around ₱740 billion).
- The findings are preliminary. Meta can now defend itself in writing before the Commission makes a final decision.
What the EU Commission found
The DSA is a set of EU rules that force large platforms to check for and reduce "systemic risks" — the wider harms their design can cause to society and to individual users. After a probe that began in 2024, the Commission concluded that Meta did not adequately assess how the design of Facebook and Instagram affects the "physical and mental wellbeing of users, including minors and vulnerable adults," Al Jazeera reported.
Regulators singled out four features: infinite scroll (a feed with no end), autoplay video, push notifications, and the recommender system — the algorithm (the automatic system that ranks and picks content) that decides what appears next. The Commission said these features "fuel the user's urge to keep scrolling" and push the brain into "autopilot mode," adding to compulsive use. It also pointed to data on minors using Reels and Stories late at night.
The features under scrutiny
Here is how the Commission's concerns line up with the changes it is asking for:
| Feature | Why the EU is worried | Change the Commission wants |
|---|
| Infinite scroll | A never-ending feed encourages non-stop use | Turned off by default |
| Autoplay | Videos play automatically, one after another | Turned off by default |
| Push notifications | Constant alerts pull users back into the app | Reduced pressure to return |
| Personalized recommendations | Feeds tuned to maximize time spent | Made less engagement-focused, with more user control |
The Commission also wants Meta to add "effective screen-time breaks" so people are nudged to step away, as Forbes noted.
How big could the fine be?
If the Commission confirms the breach after Meta responds, it can impose a fine of up to 6% of the company's worldwide annual turnover. "Turnover" means a company's total yearly revenue, not its profit. Based on last year's earnings, 6% would come to more than $12 billion (around ₱740 billion), Deseret News reported. That would be one of the largest penalties issued under the DSA so far.
Meta pushes back
Meta rejected the findings. The company said it "disagree[s] with these preliminary findings," which it argued do not "accurately take into account the significant steps we've taken to protect teens," spokesperson Ben Walters said. Meta says it has already added tools such as Teen Accounts and content controls for younger users.
The stakes are high because the disputed features sit at the center of how Meta makes money. Fabrizio Esposito, an associate professor of private law at NOVA School of Law in Lisbon, told Al Jazeera the case "strike[s] at the heart" of Meta's business model, and warned that being forced to change it would have "very significant" effects on the company's revenue.
Part of a wider crackdown
This is not a one-off. The same Meta investigation already produced a separate preliminary finding on April 29, 2026 that the company did not do enough to keep children under 13 off its apps. The Commission has also preliminarily found that TikTok's addictive design breaches the DSA, showing regulators are targeting the whole industry, not just Meta.
Governments outside the EU are moving too. Meta recently rolled out AI-based age detection and stricter content filters across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, while the UK is planning to bar under-16s from TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube from spring 2027.
Why It Matters for PH users
For now, the DSA applies only inside the EU, so any redesign Meta agrees to would first reach European users, not Filipinos. There is no Philippine law that forces the same "off by default" changes here, so the exact features under scrutiny — infinite scroll, autoplay, and personalized feeds — stay switched on for local users unless Meta chooses to change them globally.
That gap matters because the Philippines is one of the world's heaviest users of these very apps. The Philippines had 95.8 million social media user identities in early 2026, about 81.9% of the population, and Facebook reached 94.9% of internet users, according to the Meltwater and We Are Social Global Digital Report 2026. Filipinos spend close to five hours a day on social media. So while the ruling is a European one, the design habits it targets are a daily reality for tens of millions of Filipinos — and any global changes Meta makes in response would land here too.
FAQ
Does this ruling change Facebook or Instagram in the Philippines right now?
No. The finding is preliminary and applies under EU law. Nothing changes for Philippine users at this stage, and Meta has not announced any global switch-off of the features.
How soon could Meta be fined?
There is no fixed date. Meta can first respond in writing to the preliminary findings. Only after reviewing that defense will the Commission decide whether to confirm a breach and impose a penalty.
What exactly is the Digital Services Act?
It is an EU law that requires large online platforms to identify and reduce the wider risks their services create, from illegal content to harmful design. Breaking it can lead to fines of up to 6% of a company's global yearly revenue.
