This was announced at a briefing in Brussels by European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier.
According to him, the investigation showed that the company did not conduct a proper risk assessment of features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and highly personalized recommendation algorithms, nor did it implement effective measures to mitigate them.
"Children spend hours on Instagram and Facebook. This is the result of Meta's features such as autoplay, highly personalized recommendation systems, and push notifications. That is why today the EC has preliminarily concluded that Meta violates the Digital Services Act due to its addictive design," Regnier said.
He noted that around 270 million people in the EU use Meta's services, and nearly half of children already have an Instagram account by age 12, even though this is below the minimum age set by the company's own rules.
According to the Commission spokesperson, the consequences of such use manifest in increased anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders among minors.
According to the Commission's published preliminary findings, Meta did not consider the impact of its own algorithms and platform features on the formation of compulsive user behavior. In particular, the investigation showed that the company ignored available data on how much time minors spend on Instagram and Facebook at night, and how Reels and Stories formats may contribute to excessive use.
The European Commission also considers existing measures to limit platform usage time insufficient. Information materials on mental health posted in a separate Safety Centre section were also deemed inadequate.
The Commission believes that Meta must change the architecture of both platforms. Possible measures include disabling autoplay and infinite scroll by default, implementing effective reminders to take a break, and modifying recommendation algorithms to be less focused on maximizing user engagement.
Meta will now be able to review the investigation materials and submit written objections.
If the preliminary position is confirmed, the company could face a fine of up to 6% of its global annual turnover.