executive branch of the european union On Wednesday, Meta was accused of failing to protect young children from the harms of social media.
The European Commission said Meta, the company behind many social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, breached its rules by only allowing children over the age of 13 on its platforms.
“Terms and conditions should not be just written statements, but the basis for concrete action to protect users, including children,” said EU digital czar Hanna Virkkunen.
Since the EU’s findings are preliminary, META will be given a chance to defend itself. If confirmed, Meta could face hefty fines.
What the European Commission said about Meta violating its rules
The European Commission said in a statement that its investigation had shown that Meta’s own rules regarding allowing children above 13 were not adequately enforced or regulated.
When creating an account, minors under the age of 13 may have entered an incorrect date of birth and there were no effective controls to check that it was correct.
“Meta’s tools for reporting minors under the age of 13 on the platform are difficult to use and not effective, requiring only seven clicks to access the reporting form, which is not automatically filled in with user information,” the statement said.
EU continues fight to prevent harm to children online
The European Union (EU) has a law called the Digital Services Act (DSA), which helps it deal with the spread of illegal content on social media platforms and search engines and online marketplaces.
This means the EU also has the power to impose heavy fines on platforms and search engines that are not following the rules of its digital playbook.
The European Commission said on Wednesday that Meta broke the rules of the Digital Services Act.
Europe has generally leaned towards regulating social platforms using DSA rather than banning children from accessing their social media accounts.
Earlier this month, the EUFor example, a new age verification app was announced to be launched soon. The app aims to ensure that users verify their age before accessing certain platforms, without sharing all their personal information with the sites they are trying to access.
Countries are considering banning social media for people under 16. What about Europe?
Australia has become the first country in the world to implement a ban on social media for under-16s and other countries such as the UK, France and Denmark are considering a similar move.
Germany has shown support for raising the minimum age. For platforms like Instagram and TikTok so that children spend less time on their phones.
Edited by: Alex Berry