SOMI Foundation Sends Warning Letter to Meta in Denmark for Harming the Health of Children with Addictive Products
Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Copenhagen (Denmark), 29 September 2025 – The Dutch non-profit foundation Stichting Onderzoek Marktinformatie (SOMI) has issued a formal warning letter to Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for knowingly exposing children and young adults in Denmark to harmful and addictive products.
Sep Mon 29 2025
This initiative could mark the beginning of the first Danish class action lawsuit against Meta, organized by SOMI in collaboration with the law firm Lassen Ricard. SOMI announced the action during the National Consultation on Social Media and Search Engines in Copenhagen, an event initiated by concerned citizens and experts to address the risks posed by unregulated digital platforms.
Meta is accused of intentionally designing its platforms with psychological mechanisms that exploit the vulnerabilities of children and adolescents. Through features such as infinite scrolling, notifications and alerts, and validation tools such as likes and shares, the company has created systems that capture and hold attention by manipulating the brain’s dopamine pathways in ways comparable to addictive substances like drugs and alcohol. These design strategies have been linked to rising rates of depression, anxiety, sleep disruption, and reduced academic performance among young people. Over the years, Meta has deliberately intensified these mechanisms, producing platforms that are not only addictive but knowingly harmful, despite its awareness of the consequences.
SOMI argues that these practices violate several European and Danish laws, including the EU AI Act, the EU Digital Services Act, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Danish Market Practices Act, and the Danish Product Liability Regulation.
SOMI is already pursuing collective actions against Meta in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. With this new case in Denmark, SOMI seeks to compel Meta to modify or remove harmful product features, to end the deliberate exploitation of children’s vulnerabilities, and to provide compensation to Danish children and young people who have been exposed to these unsafe practices.