D3 sues Meta, TikTok and YouTube in Portugal over addictive design

LISBON, Sept 10 (Reuters) – Portuguese digital rights group D3 said on Thursday that it has filed lawsuits against Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, accusing them of designing platform features meant to keep users hooked.

The four collective actions, which let associations bring cases on behalf of a wider group of consumers, follow lawsuits in other countries that have challenged social media’s addictive design.

A spokesperson for Alphabet’s Google, YouTube’s owner, said giving people "a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work" and pointed to tools including "take a break" and bedtime reminders meant to help users manage their viewing habits.

The spokesperson said: "We’ll be assessing this case and responding in due course."

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and TikTok parent ByteDance did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

D3 said the cases were filed by law firm Andersen Tax & Legal Iberia with Lisbon’s Civil Court between April and May and disclosed only now after the judicial summer break, and that the legal action seeks to "hold these platforms accountable and force them to provide a safe experience for their users."

D3 pointed to features such as endless scrolling, automatically played videos, constant notifications and highly customised recommendation systems.

D3 said that by removing natural breaks in usage, continuously serving personalised content and repeatedly prompting users to return, the platforms create behavioural feedback loops similar to techniques long employed in the gambling industry.

D3 President Ricardo Lafuente said: "Platforms do not have to be hyper-addictive."

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."

Social media has faced increasing scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic.

TikTok was charged in February under EU rules over allegedly addictive features, and in August Meta agreed to pay as much as $18 billion to settle addiction claims in the United States.

According to data gathered by SocialMediaTransparency.org, the four platforms had a combined reach of 33 million monthly users in Portugal in the first half of 2026.