Corporate acts such as adopting manipulative design, addictive features and psychological manipulation  will be  subject to heavier fines and regulations

According to the Financial Times, the European Union is preparing to arm itself with new fining powers aimed squarely at Big Tech firms that fail to protect consumers — especially children — from online spending traps, manipulative design, and addictive digital experiences.

The planned legislation, known as the Digital Fairness Act and expected to be formally proposed in the fourth quarter of 2026, is designed to tackle dark patterns, influencer marketing abuses, unfair personalization practices, and the deliberate exploitation of consumer vulnerabilities for commercial gain.

This move comes as the European Commission on 10 July 2026, issued preliminary findings that Meta is in breach of the Digital Services Act over the addictive design of Instagram and Facebook, citing features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and highly personalized recommender systems that shift users’ brains into “autopilot mode” and fuel compulsive use.

Compounding the regulatory pressure, the European Parliament on 9 July 2026, voted to reinstate Chat Control 1.0, a temporary derogation from EU privacy rules that permits platforms to voluntarily scan unencrypted private messages for child sexual abuse material until April 2028.

Compounding the regulatory pressure, the European Parliament on 9 July 2026, voted to reinstate Chat Control 1.0, a temporary derogation from EU privacy rules that permits platforms to voluntarily scan unencrypted private messages for child sexual abuse material until April 2028.

Critics said the measure passed through a procedural loophole: after being rejected twice in March, a narrow vote on 7 July 7 “urgent procedure” forced a second-reading revote that required 361 votes to block rather than a simple majority to pass, ultimately failing when only 314 MEPs voted to reject the extension.

These developments mark an intensifying week of EU regulatory action against the technology sector. On 8 July 8 2026, the EU General Court dismissed Apple’s challenge to its designation as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act, while on 2 July 2 2026, Europe’s top court upheld a €4.1bn antitrust fine against Alphabet over Android.