Meta is ‘obvious that Instagram and Facebook are intended for people aged 13 and over’, the company said.
The EU previously found that Instagram and Facebook were in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) by failing “due diligence” to identify and mitigate the risks children under 13 face when using these platforms.
The findings are related to an investigation the EU launched against the popular social networks Meta in mid-2024 over concerns that Instagram and Facebook use algorithms that encourage “addictive behavior” in children.
Users must be at least 13 years old to use Instagram and Facebook. However, the Commission found that the company’s restrictions on the use of minors were not applicable.
It said children under the age of 13 could enter false dates of birth without effective checks in place to check their validity. The measures put in place by Meta do not immediately identify users under the age of 13 to remove their access, the EU said.
Meanwhile, the tools Meta offers to report small users are “difficult to use and ineffective”, the Commission said in its statement.
Meta also does not follow up on these reports, allowing small users to continue using the service without being checked, European authorities have found.
In addition, the lack of enforcement by the social media giant “results in an incomplete and unreasonable risk assessment” said the EU, which “incorrectly identifies” the risks young users face when accessing Instagram and Facebook.
Meta’s assessment contradicts “a large body of evidence” from across the EU which finds that around 10 to 12 percent of children under the age of 13 access Instagram or Facebook, the authority said, while also ignoring “readily available scientific evidence” showing that young children are at greater risk of potential harm from these services.
Meanwhile, last October, the EU, in a separate first decision, found that Meta does not provide Instagram and Facebook users with easy ways to report illegal content or challenge content moderation decisions.
Meta disagrees with today’s findings. In a statement sent to SiliconRepublic.com, a spokesperson for the company said Meta was “clear that Instagram and Facebook are intended for people aged 13 and over”, adding that they “have steps in place to find and remove accounts from anyone under that age”.
“Age understanding 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.
“We continue to invest in technology to detect and remove young users and will share more next week about additional measures that will be released soon,” the spokesperson said.
Today’s results (April 29) are based on an in-depth EU investigation that includes an analysis of Instagram and Facebook’s risk assessment reports, internal data and documents, and the platforms’ responses to information requests, the Commission said in a statement.
However, this is not the Commission’s final opinion on the matter. If they are confirmed in its final findings, the Commission could fine Meta up to 6pc of its annual global turnover. Meta generates over $200bn in revenue by 2025.
“Meta’s general conditions indicate that their services are not intended for children under the age of 13. However, our preliminary findings show that Instagram and Facebook do very little to prevent children under this age from accessing their services,” said the EU’s senior vice president for technology, security and democracy Henna Virkkunen.
“DSA needs platforms to implement their rules – terms and conditions should not be written statements, but a basis for concrete measures to protect users, including children.”
The Commission wants Instagram and Facebook to change their risk assessment methodology to better assess what risks arise on EU social media and how they manifest themselves. It also wants Meta social networks to strengthen their measures to prevent, identify and remove children under the age of 13 from their work.
According to DSA guidelines, age estimation, including age verification, is considered an appropriate measure to ensure the safety of children. To be effective, all age verification technologies need to be “accurate, reliable, robust, non-invasive, and non-discriminatory”, the EU said.
The Commission, on the other hand, is continuing its investigation into other violations of Meta related to this investigation, including the assessment and mitigation of the risks arising from the creation of online links to Facebook and Instagram, which, in turn, may lead to “addictive behavior”.
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