BRUSSELS—Meta Platforms faces a European Union investigation into whether its Facebook and Instagram services do enough to protect minors under the bloc’s new online-content law.
BRUSSELS—Meta Platforms faces a European Union investigation into whether its Facebook and Instagram services do enough to protect minors under the bloc’s new online-content law.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said Thursday that it is opening formal probes into Facebook and Instagram, including their use of algorithms that officials said may stimulate addictive behavior in children. Investigators will also look at so-called rabbit-hole effects, where a user is inundated with similar content, as well as the platforms’ age-verification tools and privacy settings for minors.
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The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said Thursday that it is opening formal probes into Facebook and Instagram, including their use of algorithms that officials said may stimulate addictive behavior in children. Investigators will also look at so-called rabbit-hole effects, where a user is inundated with similar content, as well as the platforms’ age-verification tools and privacy settings for minors.
Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the investigation.
The EU isn’t alone in raising concerns about how Meta’s products affect minors. Last year, a coalition of U.S. states filed lawsuits alleging that the company intentionally built its products with addictive features that harm young users of Facebook and Instagram. Meta said at the time that it works to support young people on its platforms and improve their experiences.
The European probe announced Thursday is being opened under the EU’s online-content law, called the Digital Services Act, which came into effect last year. It requires some of the world’s biggest online platforms to take steps to address illegal content and to manage risks associated with the platforms’ use, including their use by minors.
“We are not convinced that Meta has done enough to comply” with the law, EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton wrote on social-media platform X. “We are sparing no effort to protect youth,” he said.
Opening an investigation is a first formal step in the commission’s process that could eventually lead to fines of up to 6% of a service provider’s global annual revenue. The decision to launch a probe doesn’t necessarily mean a company will be found to have broken the online-content rules or that it will face sanctions.
The Meta investigation is the latest in a string of probes launched under the online-content law in recent months. It is the second time Meta’s social-media platforms have been targeted and follows earlier moves to open investigations into ByteDance’s TikTok and Elon Musk’s X, as well as online-shopping platform AliExpress, which is owned by Chinese technology company Alibaba.
There is no legal deadline for investigations under the EU’s online-content law.
Write to Kim Mackrael at [email protected]
