EU Accuses Meta Platforms of DSA Breaches

The International — European Commission has preliminarily found Meta Platforms in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) for failing to prevent minors under 13 from accessing Meta Platforms — Instagram and Meta Platforms. The Commission states that Meta Platforms' measures to restrict minor access are ineffective, citing issues like false birth dates and a difficult reporting tool for underage users. Concurrently, Republic of Ireland — Coimisiún na Meán, Ireland's media regulator, has launched its own investigations into Meta Platforms — Instagram and Meta Platforms, focusing on concerns that users cannot easily control content and may be manipulated by algorithms. Henna Virkkunen, the EU's top tech enforcer, emphasized that platforms must enforce their own rules to protect children. Meta Platforms has disagreed with the initial findings and plans to implement additional measures to detect and remove underage users. These actions could result in substantial fines for Meta Platforms, similar to those imposed on X (social network) and ByteDance — TikTok Shop for DSA breaches.