EU Charges Meta for Failing to Block Children Under 13 on Instagram and Facebook

The European Commission has charged Meta with violating the Digital Services Act (DSA) for failing to prevent children under 13 from using Instagram and Facebook. The preliminary investigation, announced Wednesday, found that Meta lacks effective age verification systems, allowing minors to enter false birth dates without checks. The Commission also criticized Meta's reporting tool for underage users as difficult and ineffective, requiring up to seven steps and often resulting in no follow-up. EU regulators estimate 10 to 12 percent of children under 13 access the platforms. Meta disagrees with the findings, stating it invests in technologies to detect and remove underage accounts and calls age verification an industry-wide challenge. The EU is also investigating Meta over addictive design features and recommender systems. Meta faces growing scrutiny: in March, it was ordered to pay $375 million in New Mexico for failing to protect children from exploitation, and a Los Angeles jury awarded $6 million in a landmark addiction case against Meta and Google. Globally, Australia's under-16 social media ban took effect in December, with threats of legal action against Meta. Greece plans a ban for under-15s, the UK House of Lords backed an under-16 ban, France's National Assembly approved an under-15 ban, Spain's prime minister plans an under-16 ban, and Denmark will move to ban under-15s.