EU Pressures Meta Over Child Safety Failures on Facebook, Instagram

Brussels. The European Union (EU) has officially increased pressure on tech company Meta, citing serious shortcomings in child protection via social media. Regulators have warned of strict action after concluding that platforms like Facebook and Instagram have failed to prevent underage users.

In a preliminary assessment released Wednesday by the European Commission, the EU's executive body stated that Meta has not developed an effective system to prevent children under 13 from signing up on its platforms. According to the Commission, identifying and removing such users after account creation is also not being done sufficiently.