--- title: EU tells Meta to dismantle Facebook and Instagram’s... description: The European Commission has issued preliminary charges against Meta under the Digital Services Act, ordering Facebook and Instagram to disable addictive design... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/eu-tells-meta-to-dismantle-facebook-and-instagram-s-addictive-design-or-face-a-fine-oftbdaeit twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: EU tells Meta to dismantle Facebook and Instagram’s ‘addictive’ design or face a fine | daily.dev og:description: The European Commission has issued preliminary charges against Meta under the Digital Services Act, ordering Facebook and Instagram to disable addictive design... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/eu-tells-meta-to-dismantle-facebook-and-instagram-s-addictive-design-or-face-a-fine-oftbdaeit og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/OftbDAEiT.png og:image:alt: EU tells Meta to dismantle Facebook and Instagram’s ‘addictive’ design or face a fine og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # EU tells Meta to dismantle Facebook and Instagram’s ‘addictive’ design or face a fine **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 4 min read · 5 upvotes · 2 comments ## Summary The European Commission has issued preliminary charges against Meta under the Digital Services Act, ordering Facebook and Instagram to disable addictive design features such as autoplay and infinite scroll by default, introduce screen-time breaks, and retune recommendation algorithms away from pure engagement. The Commission argues these design choices pose systemic risks to physical and mental health, particularly for children and vulnerable users. Meta faces a fine of up to 6% of global annual turnover if the findings are confirmed, though the process allows Meta to respond and propose remedies. The case is seen as a template that could extend to all large platforms built on similar engagement mechanics. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What has the EU ordered Meta to change about Facebook and Instagram under the Digital Services Act? The European Commission's preliminary findings require Meta to disable autoplay and infinite scroll by default, introduce effective screen-time breaks, and retune recommender systems to be less oriented toward maximizing engagement. The charges accuse Meta of building addictive design into Facebook and Instagram without properly assessing risks to physical and mental health, especially for children and vulnerable adults, under the Digital Services Act's systemic risk rules. _developers building platforms with engagement-driven feeds can track how DSA enforcement reshapes design norms on daily.dev._ ### What fine could Meta face for the addictive design findings under the Digital Services Act? Meta could face a fine of up to 6% of its total worldwide annual turnover if the European Commission's preliminary findings are confirmed after Meta responds, which on recent revenue would run into the billions of dollars. The EU's actual penalties have historically tended to land well below that statutory ceiling, and the case remains preliminary with Meta able to propose remedies. _teams weighing platform compliance risk can follow DSA enforcement outcomes like this on daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@capjavert** · 0 upvotes > hahah **@mikhailnathanielabordo** · 0 upvotes > they didn't know the `uninstall` feature? 🤣 ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [EU threatens Meta with fines over addictive features on Facebook and Instagram](https://daily.dev/posts/eu-threatens-meta-with-fines-over-addictive-features-on-facebook-and-instagram-giyslwspo) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [EU escalates Meta addictive design probe](https://daily.dev/posts/eu-escalates-meta-addictive-design-probe-mhkod12ds) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [EU: Meta's autoplay and infinite scroll breach the DSA](https://daily.dev/posts/eu-meta-s-autoplay-and-infinite-scroll-breach-the-dsa-nbwmkw5tl) · The Next Web · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [European Commission formally charges Meta](https://daily.dev/posts/european-commission-formally-charges-meta-6oanp6dcb) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/eu-tells-meta-to-dismantle-facebook-and-instagram-s-addictive-design-or-face-a-fine-oftbdaeit) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"EU tells Meta to dismantle Facebook and Instagram’s ‘addictive’ design or face a fine","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/eu-tells-meta-to-dismantle-facebook-and-instagram-s-addictive-design-or-face-a-fine-oftbdaeit","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/eu-tells-meta-to-dismantle-facebook-and-instagram-s-addictive-design-or-face-a-fine-oftbdaeit"},"datePublished":"2026-07-10T12:02:09.994Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T08:27:38.265Z","description":"The European Commission has issued preliminary charges against Meta under the Digital Services Act, ordering Facebook and Instagram to disable addictive design...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/a790f9b3cd86779b64e48f7f1bf0ef06?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/a790f9b3cd86779b64e48f7f1bf0ef06?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Next Web","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Next Web","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tnw","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},"commentCount":2,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/eu-tells-meta-to-dismantle-facebook-and-instagram-s-addictive-design-or-face-a-fine-oftbdaeit","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":5},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}],"keywords":"","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Next Web","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"EU tells Meta to dismantle Facebook and Instagram’s ‘addictive’ design or face a fine"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/eu-tells-meta-to-dismantle-facebook-and-instagram-s-addictive-design-or-face-a-fine-oftbdaeit","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"hahah","datePublished":"2026-07-10T18:43:10.674Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/OftbDAEiT#c-36Etp4paK","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Ante Barić","url":"https://daily.dev/capjavert","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/v1679300599/avatars/avatar_LJSkpBexOSCWc8INyu3Eu.jpg"}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"they didn’t know the uninstall feature? 🤣","datePublished":"2026-07-11T23:09:05.207Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/OftbDAEiT#c-nrQ2hlmPr","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Mikhail Abordo","url":"https://daily.dev/mikhailnathanielabordo","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--ZSBA4MQC--/f_auto/v1782568381/avatars/avatar_qdmTmKOykTy8aJ6nNzx9b?_a=BAMAMicg0"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/eu-tells-meta-to-dismantle-facebook-and-instagram-s-addictive-design-or-face-a-fine-oftbdaeit#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What has the EU ordered Meta to change about Facebook and Instagram under the Digital Services Act?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The European Commission's preliminary findings require Meta to disable autoplay and infinite scroll by default, introduce effective screen-time breaks, and retune recommender systems to be less oriented toward maximizing engagement. The charges accuse Meta of building addictive design into Facebook and Instagram without properly assessing risks to physical and mental health, especially for children and vulnerable adults, under the Digital Services Act's systemic risk rules. developers building platforms with engagement-driven feeds can track how DSA enforcement reshapes design norms on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What fine could Meta face for the addictive design findings under the Digital Services Act?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Meta could face a fine of up to 6% of its total worldwide annual turnover if the European Commission's preliminary findings are confirmed after Meta responds, which on recent revenue would run into the billions of dollars. The EU's actual penalties have historically tended to land well below that statutory ceiling, and the case remains preliminary with Meta able to propose remedies. teams weighing platform compliance risk can follow DSA enforcement outcomes like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```