Overview
- EU regulators, who filed charges Wednesday, said Meta’s safeguards fail to block children under 13 from Facebook and Instagram.
- The Commission cited evidence that 10–12% of under‑13s use at least one of the services and said tools to spot and remove these accounts do not work well.
- Brussels ordered Meta to overhaul how it assesses risks to minors and to deploy stronger age checks, and it is preparing a bloc age‑verification app to support stricter screening.
- Investigators said kids can sign up by entering a false birthdate, and they flagged a seven‑click reporting form and weak follow‑up that leave underage accounts online.
- Meta can respond and propose fixes before the Commission issues a final decision under the Digital Services Act, part of a two‑year probe that also examines possible addictive design.