Facebook and Instagram must do more to block under-13s, EU warns in Meta charges
EU Charges Meta Over Child Safety and Age Restrictions
By Foo Yun Chee
Background to the EU Charges
BRUSSELS, April 29 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms' Facebook and Instagram were charged on Wednesday with breaching landmark European Union tech rules and must do more to block children under 13 from accessing the social networks, EU regulators said.
The charges or so-called preliminary findings under the Digital Services Act, which requires Big Tech to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content on their platforms, follow a two-year investigation by the European Commission.
Meta's Response and Potential Penalties
Meta, which said it disagreed with the preliminary findings, can respond to the charges and take measures before the Commission issues a final decision. DSA breaches can cost companies fines of as much as 6% of their global annual turnover.
Concerns Over Social Media's Impact on Children
The EU move comes amid growing concerns worldwide about the impact of social media on children, businesses and governments, prompting calls on Big Tech to show more initiative and take more effective measures.
EU's Criticism of Meta's Age Verification
The EU tech enforcer said Meta did not do enough to enforce its age restrictions for Facebook and Instagram and that measures to identify children under 13 and remove them when they do access the services were inadequate.
Disputed Figures on Underage Usage
It said between 10% and 12% of children under 13 in Europe used Facebook and Instagram. Meta, however, disagreed with the figures, which it said are based on a handful of user surveys from almost a decade ago.
EU Officials' Statements
"Our preliminary findings show that Instagram and Facebook are doing very little to prevent children below this age from accessing their services," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said in a statement.
"Terms and conditions should not be mere written statements, but rather the basis for concrete action to protect users – including children," she said.
Meta's Current and Planned Measures
Meta says it has measures in place to detect and remove accounts from children under 13 and that it will announce additional measures next week.
"Understanding age is an industry-wide challenge, which requires an industry-wide solution, and we will continue to engage constructively with the European Commission on this important issue," a Meta spokesperson said.
Next Steps and Possible Outcomes
The Commission said both platforms must change their risk assessment methodology and that they need to strengthen measures to prevent, detect and remove minors from their services.
If regulators feel they still do not do enough to satisfy them, they can still impose a fine, although this step would be many months away.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Alison Williams and Tomasz Janowski)
