The European Union is reportedly escalating a probe into Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta over allegations that its social media apps are intentionally designed to get kids hooked.

The European Commission, the EU’s competition watchdog, is close to issuing its preliminary findings – including that Facebook and Instagram are built with addictive features, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

EU officials have yet to determine exactly when they’ll announce the findings, the report said.

The investigation was first announced in May 2024 and focused on Meta’s potential violations of the EU’s Digital Services Act – which requires Big Tech firms to police content on their platforms.

Meta did not immediately return a request for comment.

EU officials previously said they were concerned that Facebook and Instagram “may stimulate behavioral addictions in children” as well as “rabbit-hole effects” – where kids keep using the apps in a way that causes their physical and mental health to suffer.

The commission had also expressed concern about the effectiveness of Meta’s age verification practices.

The issuing of preliminary findings are a crucial step in the European Commission’s investigation process. Meta will have an opportunity to propose remedies that address the bloc’s concerns.

Under the DSA, companies can be fined as much as 6% of their global sales if they are unable to satisfy regulators.

Based on Meta’s fiscal 2025 revenue, that would mean a potential fine of about $12 billion – though the EU’s penalties to date in similar cases have come in far below that level.

Any severe crackdown on Meta could escalate tensions between the European Union and the Trump administration, which has repeatedly criticized EU officials for what it says are discriminary actions against US tech firms.

The EU’s fines have become a sticking point in trade talks between the two sides.

Zuckerberg himself has described the EU’s fines as “almost like a tariff” that have become “sort of like an EU-wide policy for how they want to deal with American tech.”

Separately, Meta is facing a wave of more than 2,000 lawsuits in the US over allegations that its app have fueled social media addiction and online harm among kids.

In March, Meta lost a pair of historic court cases – one in New Mexico and another in Los Angeles – in what critics described as a “Big Tobacco moment” for the tech industry.