EU finds Meta not doing enough to keep underage users at bay

Meta is ‘clear that Instagram and Facebook are intended for people aged 13 and older’, said the company.

The EU has preliminarily found that Instagram and Facebook are in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) for failing to “diligently” identify and mitigate risks that children under 13 face when using these platforms.

The findings are in relation to an investigation the EU launched against Meta’s popular social media platforms in mid-2024 over concerns that Instagram and Facebook use algorithms that stimulate “addictive behaviour” in children.

Users need to be at least 13 years old to use Instagram and Facebook. However, the Commission found that the company’s own restrictions against underage usage don’t work.

It said that minors under 13 can enter false birth dates with no effective controls in place to check its validity. The measures Meta has put in also do not promptly identify under-13 users to remove their access, the EU added.