The European Union’s executive arm accused Meta Platforms Inc of failing to keep young children off its services, ramping up a probe that could result in hefty fines.
The European Commission on Wednesday issued preliminary findings against the company, saying Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram fell short of their own minimum age restriction of 13 years old.
The apps have “no effective controls in place to check the correctness of the self-declared date of birth,” the commission said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that Meta’s tool to flag under-13s for removal “is difficult to use and not effective.”
Meta disagrees with the preliminary findings, a spokesperson said, adding that the company has measures in place to detect accounts from underage users.
“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,” the spokesperson said.
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Meta and other tech platforms are under pressure globally to do more to stop children from accessing their services, as parents and lawmakers worry about the overuse of social media platforms and issues such as online bullying. While some countries are opting for blanket social media bans, the EU has mostly focused on enforcing its existing content moderation rulebook, the Digital Services Act.
The commission’s preliminary findings escalate a probe into Meta that has been ongoing since May 2024. Meta will now be able to defend itself from the allegations and potentially propose remedies to address the commission’s concerns.
The DSA mandates that platforms must crack down on illegal or harmful content or face fines that can reach as much as 6 percent of a company’s annual global sales. The commission has also been wielding the DSA to force adult websites and technology companies to age-gate their services.
Under growing pressure from member states to enact something like a social media ban, the EU recently unveiled its blueprint for an age-verification app.
