Instagram and Facebook under EU investigation for causing child addiction and harm

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The probe will assess whether Meta has done enough to comply with the EU’s DSA obligations to protect children.

By Jess Weatherbed, a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture. Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews.

May 16, 2024, 11:34 AM UTC

The EU is concerned that Meta’s algorithms may cause “behavioral addictions in children.”

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge

The European Union has opened a formal investigation into Meta over concerns that it isn’t doing enough to safeguard the mental and physical health of children who use its Facebook and Instagram social media platforms.

The probe announced by the European Commission on Thursday will assess whether Meta has breached rules under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), noting that Facebook and Instagram’s UI and algorithms may cause “behavioral addictions in children” and create “rabbit-hole effects.” The EU is also concerned that Meta isn’t doing enough to prevent minors from accessing inappropriate content, and that its age-verification tools may not be “reasonable, proportionate, and effective.”

The probe will additionally assess whether Meta’s content recommendation systems and default privacy settings provide enough privacy, safety, and security for minors. The investigation follows Meta’s recent efforts to improve child safety across Facebook and Instagram, such as restricting them from viewing harmful topics, and limiting interaction with “suspicious” adult accounts, as it attempts to rectify its poor reputation for protecting children online.

The Commission’s next steps involve gathering additional evidence. There’s no formal deadline for the proceedings, but the EU is permitted to take interim enforcement action against Meta while the investigation is ongoing. If Meta is found to be in violation of DSA rules, it could face fines of up to six percent of the company’s global revenue, with EU Commissioner Thierry Breton declaring on X that “we are sparing no effort to protect youth.”

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