TikTok’s “addictive design” provisionally found to be a breach of the DSA: where is the line between engagement and addiction?

The European Commission’s 6 February 2026 announcement - provisionally finding that TikTok’s “addictive design” breaches the Digital Services Act (“DSA”) - has already attracted significant attention. Now the dust has settled, we ask some key questions raised by that decision – which go to the core of the DSA.

The preliminary findings mark the latest in a series of DSA enforcement steps by the Commission and arrive amid growing regulatory concern around the impact of persuasive design techniques on users. In many ways, they represent one of the most significant Commission findings in digital markets in recent years. And they raise a series of important questions. How can platforms comply with the DSA while pursuing their legitimate commercial objectives of attracting and engaging users? Is it legitimate for the Commission to force a platform to redesign itself, where the first effect could be to shatter its value to content creators and advertisers? What does the Commission need to prove to do that? And has it done so here?

Our briefing unpacks these questions and considers what the decision could mean not just for TikTok, but for every platform that has built its business model on keeping users engaged.