{"id":926143,"date":"2026-04-29T10:43:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T10:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/926143\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T10:43:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T10:43:19","slug":"eu-probe-finds-meta-falling-short-on-child-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/926143\/","title":{"rendered":"EU probe finds Meta falling short on child protection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meta is facing the prospect of a major European Union fine after regulators said the company is failing to stop children under the age of 13 from using Facebook and Instagram.<\/p>\n

The European Commission<\/a> said on Wednesday that its probe had found Meta breached digital content rules by not doing enough to enforce its own age restrictions on the two platforms. Under Meta\u2019s terms and conditions, users must be at least 13 years old to access Facebook and Instagram.<\/p>\n

In its preliminary findings under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Commission said Meta\u2019s measures to prevent, detect and remove under-13s from its platforms were inadequate. The DSA requires large technology companies to take stronger action to tackle illegal and harmful content on their services.<\/p>\n

\"FS<\/a><\/p>\n

The findings follow a two-year investigation by the European Commission and come amid heightened scrutiny of the impact of social media on children. The EU has stepped up efforts in recent months to strengthen protections for younger users online, with several member states considering social media bans for under-16s.<\/p>\n

The Commission is also exploring a possible bloc-wide age limit on social media, following growing pressure for wider action after Australia introduced a ban on under-16s using such platforms.<\/p>\n

According to the Commission, 10% to 12% of children under the age of 13 in Europe use Facebook and Instagram. Regulators said both platforms must change their risk assessment methodology and strengthen their measures to prevent, detect and remove minors from their services.<\/p>\n

Meta has rejected the Commission\u2019s preliminary findings, but can respond to the charges and introduce further measures before regulators make a final decision. If the Commission\u2019s view is ultimately confirmed, Meta could face a fine of up to 6% of its total worldwide annual turnover.<\/p>\n

The company said it already has systems in place to identify and remove underage users from its platforms.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re clear that Instagram and Facebook are intended for people aged 13 and older and we have measures in place to detect and remove accounts from anyone under that age,\u201d a Meta spokesperson said, adding the company would continue to engage with the EU.<\/p>\n

Recommended reading<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meta also said it will announce additional measures next week.<\/p>\n

The Commission has told Meta to \u201cstrengthen\u201d its approach to underage access across Facebook and Instagram. If regulators later conclude that the company has still not done enough to meet its obligations, they can impose a fine, although such a step could still be many months away.<\/p>\n

The case reflects growing pressure on major technology platforms to take more proactive steps to protect children online. Governments and regulators around the world are increasingly focusing on how social media affects younger users, with calls for Big Tech firms to adopt more effective safeguards and take greater responsibility for risks linked to their services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meta is facing the prospect of a major European Union fine after regulators said the company is failing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":926144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[5169,21469,2000,299,5187,1699,598,23740],"class_list":{"0":"post-926143","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-child-protection","9":"tag-digital-services-act","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-meta","15":"tag-online-safety"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116487587393706356","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=926143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/926143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/926144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=926143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=926143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=926143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}