The European Commission is preparing to escalate its case against Meta Platforms, moving toward preliminary findings that Facebook and Instagram use design features engineered to keep users, particularly children, hooked. The investigation, which has been running since formal proceedings opened in May 2024 under the Digital Services Act, is entering a more serious phase.
Bloomberg reported on June 23 that EU regulators plan to prepare preliminary findings related to addictive design practices on both platforms. If confirmed with formal charges, Meta could face fines of up to 6% of its global annual turnover, a penalty ceiling the DSA explicitly allows.
A pattern of regulatory pressure
In April 2026, the EU charged Meta with breaching DSA rules by failing to prevent children under 13 from accessing its platforms. In February 2026, TikTok received a preliminary DSA breach finding over addictive features like infinite scroll and personalized recommendation algorithms.
What counts as addictive design
