The European Commission concluded that Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, is failing to properly prevent children from accessing its social media apps despite its guidelines.
The findings are part of a preliminary investigation into breaches of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA). The Commission is collaborating with Meta on the issue, but at the moment, the system the company has appears insufficient. “The DSA requires platforms to enforce their own rules: terms and conditions should not be mere written statements, but rather the basis for concrete action to protect users – including children,” said Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the Commission in charge of tech issues.
According to Facebook and Instagram’s own rules, minors under 13 can’t sign up for accounts. However, the Commission found that there are currently no significant ways to prevent a child under 13 from signing up, as they can enter a fake birth date with minimal checks.
In addition, even after the discovery of an underage profile, the system for reporting is rather clunky and counterintuitive. According to the Commission, it is also ineffective, as there is often no serious follow-up to the initial report, allowing the minor to continue using the profile.
Meta and the company can discuss and address the preliminary findings, and the company can propose ways to address the Commission’s concerns. At the moment, it seems that Meta is engaged with the Commission, even though it disagrees with the findings because it believes it has tools to remove underage accounts. In a statement, Meta said, “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.”
If Meta fails to address the issue, the Commission may fine the company up to 6% of its worldwide annual revenue.
