EU Scolds Meta Over Lack of Protection for Under-13s on Facebook and Instagram

The European Union has formally found that META failed to adequately prevent users under 13 years of age from accessing Facebook and Instagram, issuing a regulatory warning and threatening major fines for non-compliance with the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA). The ruling places Meta at the center of an escalating debate about platform responsibility for protecting minors online — an issue with growing regulatory momentum across multiple jurisdictions.

Multiple media outlets reported the EU's findings, which cited Meta's age verification mechanisms as insufficient to reliably exclude underage users from platforms with significant algorithmic engagement features. Regulators indicated that Facebook and Instagram lack robust enough safeguards to prevent minors from self-certifying older ages during account creation, a well-documented pattern on major social platforms.

The regulatory action adds to a growing global pressure campaign against META on youth safety, with parallel proceedings underway in the US, UK, and Australia. Potential DSA fines can reach 6% of global annual revenue — a threshold that would represent billions of dollars for Meta. While the company has invested in youth safety features including supervised accounts and content filtering, regulators and advocacy groups argue these measures are insufficient to meet the spirit of age-restriction requirements.