Meta and DSA: EU fine for infinite scroll and algorithms

Cosa è cambiato: la Commissione Europea apre il fronte Meta

Il 10 luglio 2026, la Commissione Europea ha comunicato ufficialmente che Meta è in violazione del Digital Services Act (DSA). La contestazione riguarda alcune delle funzionalità più caratteristiche di Facebook e Instagram. In particolare, infinite scroll, autoplay dei video, push notification aggressive e algoritmi di raccomandazione ultra-personalizzati sono al centro dell’accusa.

Secondo Bruxelles, queste funzionalità sono progettate per massimizzare il tempo di permanenza sulla piattaforma. Di conseguenza, genererebbero dinamiche di dipendenza negli utenti, in contrasto con gli obiettivi del DSA. Pertanto, la Commissione ha avviato la procedura che potrebbe portare a sanzioni fino al 6% del fatturato globale annuo di Meta.

La notizia è stata riportata in dettaglio da TechCrunch, che ha documentato la posizione ufficiale della Commissione. Inoltre, si tratta di uno dei procedimenti più rilevanti avviati sotto il DSA dall’entrata in vigore del regolamento.

Immediate impact on Italian advertising strategies

Per i marketing manager italiani, questa notizia non è un fatto distante. Al contrario, tocca direttamente le fondamenta delle campagne digitali costruite sugli ecosistemi Meta. Infatti, infinite scroll e autoplay sono meccanismi che aumentano le impression pubblicitarie e il tempo di esposizione agli annunci.

Se Meta fosse costretta a modificare o disabilitare queste funzionalità, il volume di impression disponibili potrebbe ridursi. Allo stesso modo, gli algoritmi di raccomandazione personalizzati alimentano il sistema di targeting di Meta Ads. Una loro limitazione inciderebbe sulla precisione con cui è possibile raggiungere segmenti di pubblico specifici.

So, companies that today allocate significant budgets to social campaigns e digital marketing su Meta devono iniziare a considerare scenari di discontinuità. Non si tratta di abbandonare le piattaforme, ma di costruire una resilienza strategica.

DSA and the logic of by-design dependency

Per comprendere la portata dell’accusa, è utile inquadrare il contesto normativo. Il Digital Services Act è entrato in vigore nell’Unione Europea con l’obiettivo di responsabilizzare le grandi piattaforme digitali. In particolare, impone obblighi di trasparenza, tutela degli utenti e limitazione dei sistemi che inducono comportamenti compulsivi.

Secondo ricerche accademiche e istituzionali, il design delle interfacce social è stato deliberatamente ottimizzato per massimizzare l’engagement. Ad esempio, uno studio citato da Harvard Business Review has highlighted how push notifications and infinite scroll activate variable reinforcement mechanisms, similar to those studied in behavioral psychology.

Nonostante ciò, Meta ha sempre difeso queste funzionalità come strumenti di personalizzazione dell’esperienza utente. Tuttavia, la Commissione Europea ha ritenuto che l’interesse commerciale prevalga sulla tutela degli utenti, soprattutto dei minori. Pertanto, il procedimento si inserisce in una tendenza regolatoria più ampia, che coinvolge anche TikTok e altre piattaforme.

What the numbers don't say yet

Al momento, non esistono dati definitivi sull’entità delle modifiche che Meta potrebbe essere costretta ad adottare. Tuttavia, è possibile ragionare per scenari. Infatti, il DSA prevede misure correttive prima delle sanzioni economiche. Quindi, Meta potrebbe negoziare soluzioni tecniche intermedie.

Analogamente, precedenti casi regolatori — come quelli legati al GDPR — mostrano che le grandi piattaforme tendono a negoziare lungamente prima di implementare cambiamenti sostanziali. Di conseguenza, l’impatto operativo sulle campagne potrebbe non essere immediato, ma è ragionevole attendersi evoluzioni nei prossimi 12-18 mesi.

In this sense, Gartner ha già segnalato nelle sue previsioni per il biennio 2027-2028 un progressivo aumento della pressione regolatoria sulle piattaforme social europee. Perciò, chi pianifica budget advertising a medio termine deve integrare questa variabile nelle proprie analisi.

What to do now: three operational directions

Di fronte a questa incertezza, esistono alcune direzioni strategiche che i responsabili marketing possono percorrere già oggi. Prima di tutto, è opportuno avviare un audit della dipendenza dal canale Meta all’interno del proprio media mix. In particolare, occorre misurare quale percentuale del traffico, dei lead e delle conversioni proviene esclusivamente da Facebook e Instagram.

In seguito, è consigliabile rafforzare i canali owned — sito web, newsletter, SEO — che non dipendono dalle logiche algoritmiche delle piattaforme social. Noi di SHM Studio we work with our clients precisely on this type of diversification, integrating SEO strategy, web development e content marketing to build lasting digital assets.

Infine, vale la pena esplorare canali alternativi per l’advertising a pagamento. Ad esempio, Google Ads e le campagne su LinkedIn offrono ecosistemi meno esposti alle attuali contestazioni normative europee. Altresì, l’investimento in AI solutions per l’analisi del pubblico può ridurre la dipendenza dagli algoritmi proprietari delle piattaforme.

Prospects: A Market Being Redesigned

Questo procedimento contro Meta non è un episodio isolato. Al contrario, rappresenta un tassello di una trasformazione strutturale del mercato digitale europeo. Infatti, la pressione regolatoria del DSA, combinata con le norme sull’AI Act e le evoluzioni del GDPR, sta ridisegnando le regole del gioco per tutte le piattaforme che operano nell’UE.

Per le PMI e le aziende mid-market italiane, questo scenario ha implicazioni concrete. In particolare, chi ha costruito la propria presenza digitale prevalentemente su Meta dovrà ripensare la propria architettura di marketing. Quindi, la diversificazione non è più solo una best practice, ma una necessità strategica.

We of SHM Studio seguiamo con attenzione l’evoluzione di questo quadro normativo. Oltre a questo, supportiamo i clienti nella costruzione di strategie digital marketing che siano robuste rispetto alle discontinuità di piattaforma. Per approfondire le opzioni disponibili per la propria realtà aziendale, è possibile contact us directly to explore our blog for further analysis on the topic.

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