Portugal’s digital rights group D3 has filed four collective lawsuits against Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, accusing the platforms of building features designed to keep users hooked, Reuters reported.
The actions were filed in the Lisbon Civil Court between April and May and disclosed only now, after Portugal’s judicial summer recess. D3 is represented by the law firm Andersen Tax & Legal Iberia. Collective actions allow an association to bring a case on behalf of a broader group of consumers rather than requiring each affected user to sue individually.
D3 pointed to infinite scrolling, autoplay videos, persistent notifications and highly personalized recommendation systems as the features at issue. By removing natural breaks in usage, continuously serving personalized content and repeatedly prompting users to return, the platforms create behavioral feedback loops akin to techniques long used in the gambling industry, the group said.
“Platforms do not have to be hyper-addictive,” D3 President Ricardo Lafuente said. “A healthy, productive and educational social media ecosystem is possible, but only if the rules are robust, properly enforced and directed at those who persist in ignoring them.”
The group said the lawsuits seek to “hold these platforms accountable and force them to provide a safe experience for their users.”
A Google spokesperson said providing “a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work,” pointing to features such as “take a break” and bedtime reminders, and said the company would assess the case and respond in due course, according to Reuters.
According to data aggregated by SocialMediaTransparency.org, the four platforms had a combined reach of 33 million monthly users in Portugal in the first half of 2026.
A Widening Regulatory Front
The Lisbon filings land amid mounting scrutiny of platform design on both sides of the Atlantic. In February, the European Commission preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the EU’s Digital Services Act over addictive design, citing infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications and its recommender system. The Commission said TikTok had disregarded indicators of compulsive use, including how much time minors spend on the app at night and how frequently users open it, and that existing screen-time and parental control tools did not appear effective. A confirmed non-compliance finding could carry a fine of up to 6% of TikTok’s total worldwide annual turnover. TikTok has not yet exercised its right of defense in that case, and the Commission’s separate, ongoing investigation into Meta’s Facebook and Instagram over similar concerns dates to 2024.
The pressure is not confined to Europe. In March, a U.S. jury found Meta and YouTube liable for addictive design in a case that resulted in $6 million in damages, the first time major social media companies had been found liable on those grounds by a U.S. jury. In August, Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle separate U.S. claims over children’s social media addiction.
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Portugal’s digital rights group D3 has filed four collective lawsuits against Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, accusing the platforms of building features designed to keep users hooked, Reuters reported.
The actions were filed in the Lisbon Civil Court between April and May and disclosed only now, after Portugal’s judicial summer recess. D3 is represented by the law firm Andersen Tax & Legal Iberia. Collective actions allow an association to bring a case on behalf of a broader group of consumers rather than requiring each affected user to sue individually.
D3 pointed to infinite scrolling, autoplay videos, persistent notifications and highly personalized recommendation systems as the features at issue. By removing natural breaks in usage, continuously serving personalized content and repeatedly prompting users to return, the platforms create behavioral feedback loops akin to techniques long used in the gambling industry, the group said.
“Platforms do not have to be hyper-addictive,” D3 President Ricardo Lafuente said. “A healthy, productive and educational social media ecosystem is possible, but only if the rules are robust, properly enforced and directed at those who persist in ignoring them.”
The group said the lawsuits seek to “hold these platforms accountable and force them to provide a safe experience for their users.”
A Google spokesperson said providing “a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work,” pointing to features such as “take a break” and bedtime reminders, and said the company would assess the case and respond in due course, according to Reuters.
According to data aggregated by SocialMediaTransparency.org, the four platforms had a combined reach of 33 million monthly users in Portugal in the first half of 2026.
A Widening Regulatory Front
The Lisbon filings land amid mounting scrutiny of platform design on both sides of the Atlantic. In February, the European Commission preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the EU’s Digital Services Act over addictive design, citing infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications and its recommender system. The Commission said TikTok had disregarded indicators of compulsive use, including how much time minors spend on the app at night and how frequently users open it, and that existing screen-time and parental control tools did not appear effective. A confirmed non-compliance finding could carry a fine of up to 6% of TikTok’s total worldwide annual turnover. TikTok has not yet exercised its right of defense in that case, and the Commission’s separate, ongoing investigation into Meta’s Facebook and Instagram over similar concerns dates to 2024.
The pressure is not confined to Europe. In March, a U.S. jury found Meta and YouTube liable for addictive design in a case that resulted in $6 million in damages, the first time major social media companies had been found liable on those grounds by a U.S. jury. In August, Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle separate U.S. claims over children’s social media addiction.
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