European Commission accuses Meta of DSA violations regarding child safety

The European Commission has preliminarily found Meta's Instagram and Facebook in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) for failing to protect minors under 13. The platforms allegedly did not adequately prevent or remove underage users, despite Meta's own age restrictions, according to a recent report by Security Affairs.

Meta is accused of not diligently identifying, assessing, and mitigating the risks associated with children under 13 accessing its services. The European Commission stated that Meta's measures to enforce its 13-year-old age limit are ineffective, allowing underage users to bypass age verification through false birth dates and remain on the platforms. Reporting tools are also deemed insufficient. The Commission believes Meta's risk assessment is incomplete, failing to account for the significant percentage of under-13 users and the heightened vulnerability of younger children.

Meta must revise its risk assessment methodology and strengthen measures to detect, prevent, and remove underage users. Failure to comply could result in fines of up to 6% of Meta's global annual turnover. The investigation also examines other potential DSA breaches concerning the protection of minors and the mental well-being of users, including addictive design elements.

Source: Security Affairs