Brussels accuses Meta of not preventing access to Facebook and Instagram to children under 13 years old

Brussels .- The European Commission accused the American technology company Meta this Wednesday of violating the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) for not preventing children under 13 from accessing Facebook and Instagram.

Therefore, it forced both social networks to “strengthen their measures to prevent, detect and eliminate (accounts) of children under 13 years of age”, as reported by the Community Executive in a statement, and if they fail to do so, they could face a fine of up to 6% of their annual turnover. The Commission noted that although Meta’s own terms and conditions state that children under 13 cannot open an account on its social networks, the measures the platform takes to assess the age of its users “do not appear to be effective.”

Effective Age Verification Controls

Specifically, Brussels assured that users can lie about their age when opening an account, saying they are at least 13 years old, without there being «effective controls to verify the veracity of the date of birth». The European Commission also stated that Meta’s tool to warn of the presence of children under 13 on its social networks “is difficult to use and ineffective”, as you have to click up to 7 times to access the reporting form. And even when the company has been warned that a minor under 13 has opened an account, “adequate follow-up is often not carried out and the reported minor can simply continue using the service without any kind of control”, exposing them to “inappropriate content for their age”. Brussels said that Meta’s analysis of the risk posed by its social networks is “incomplete and arbitrary” and contradicts “a large amount of evidence” in the EU indicating that between 10 and 12% of children under 13 access Facebook and Instagram.

Several countries legislate on the matter

The Commission’s conclusion comes amid a debate about the need to establish a minimum age in the EU to access social networks and when several countries have already passed legislation in this regard: France, Italy, Denmark and Greece have banned them for those under 15 years of age and Spain, for those under 16.

In this context, the Community Executive assured this same month that the mobile application it has developed to verify the age of users, completely guaranteeing their privacy, is already “technically prepared” to be used.

The application, however, is not mandatory, but rather a tool that Brussels makes available to platforms to comply with the Digital Services Act, which obliges them to  specially protect minors. The Community Executive aims for the twenty-seven countries of the bloc and the platforms to use this application to achieve harmonized use throughout the EU, although technology companies may end up using their own age verification systems. 

Meta defends its measures

Meta, for its part, rejected the Commission’s allegations, because according to a spokesperson told EFE, Facebook and Instagram specify that they are only suitable for users aged 13 and over and, in this sense, stated that the company has “measures to detect and eliminate the accounts of anyone under that age”. «Understanding age is a challenge for the entire sector, which requires a comprehensive solution, and we will continue to collaborate constructively with the European Commission on this important issue», continued the spokesperson, who assured that Meta will present next week «more information on the additional measures that will be implemented» in this area. The tech company now has the opportunity to present its arguments to the European Commission, but if Brussels is not convinced by the explanations and does not make the changes it requests, it may fine it for violating the Digital Services Act.