The European Commission unveiled preliminary findings on Monday, accusing Meta of failing to take effective measures to prevent children under 13 from using Facebook and Instagram, in violation of European Union law. If the charges are ultimately upheld, Meta could face massive fines.
The preliminary findings allege that Meta has breached the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires the company to "diligently identify and mitigate" the risks of children under 13 using its platforms. The Commission said Meta's age restriction measures were ineffective, making it difficult to verify whether children had set up accounts by entering false dates of birth. The tools for reporting underage accounts were also hard to use. Furthermore, even when underage accounts were reported, there were often insufficient follow-up actions or mechanisms to remove them from the platforms.
A Meta spokesperson disagreed with the preliminary findings, stating that the company has taken measures to detect and delete accounts belonging to children under 13. The spokesperson acknowledged that determining user age is "an industry-level challenge that requires industry-level solutions," adding that the company would continue to engage "constructively" with the Commission and would announce additional measures next week.
Meta will now have the opportunity to respond to the allegations and adopt remedial measures before the Commission issues its final ruling. If the initial findings are confirmed in the final investigation, Meta could face a fine of up to 6 percent of its annual global revenue under the DSA.
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