Facebook and Instagram charged with breaching EU ​tech rules

The charges under the Digital Services Act, which requires large technology companies to do more to tackle illegal and harmful ​content on their platforms, came after a two-year ⁠long investigation by the European Commission

Meta Platform’ Facebook and Instagram were charged on Wednesday with breaching landmark EU ​tech rules and must do more to prevent children ‌under 13 from accessing both social networks, EU regulators said on Wednesday.

The charges under the Digital Services Act, which requires large technology companies to do more to tackle illegal and harmful ​content on their platforms, came after a two-year ⁠long investigation by the European Commission.

The EU tech enforcer ​said Meta does not do enough to enforce its restrictions ​against children under 13 from using Facebook and Instagram and that measures to identify and remove them when they do access the services ​were inadequate.

This is the latest move by the EU executive to enforce the Digital Services Act, which requires large online platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to do more to protect young people online and safeguard against harmful and illegal content. Earlier this year, the commission also told video platform TikTok it may be breaching the rules over concerns that certain features such as infinite scroll are addictive.

It said 10-12% of children under 13 in ​Europe use Facebook and Instagram.

Our preliminary findings show that Instagram and ‌Facebook ⁠are doing very little to prevent children below this age from accessing their services, EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said in a statement.

Terms and conditions should not be mere ​written statements, but ​rather the ⁠basis for concrete action to protect users – including children, she said.

The Commission said both platforms ​must change their risk assessment methodology and ​that they ⁠need to strengthen measures to prevent, detect and remove minors from their services.

Meta can respond to the charges and ⁠take measures ​before the Commission issues a ​decision. DSA breaches can cost companies fines as much as 6% of their ​global annual turnover.