International Companies
EU preliminarily finds Meta in breach of under-13s restriction
By Josh White
Date: Wednesday 29 Apr 2026
(Sharecast News) - The European Commission preliminarily found Meta Platforms in breach of the Digital Services Act on Wednesday, for failing to do enough to stop children under 13 from using Instagram and Facebook, moving the EU closer to a potential fine against the US technology group.
The Commission said that Meta's measures to enforce its own minimum age rules were not effective, despite Instagram and Facebook setting 13 as the minimum age to use the services.
Brussels said children under 13 could create accounts by entering a false date of birth, with no effective checks to verify the self-declared age.
The EU executive also criticised Meta's reporting tool for underage accounts, saying it was difficult to use, required up to seven clicks to access the form and often failed to trigger proper follow-up.
It said reported underage users could in some cases continue using the platforms without further checks.
"Meta's own general conditions indicate their services are not intended for minors under 13," said Henna Virkkunen, the Commission's executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy.
"Yet, our preliminary findings show that Instagram and Facebook are doing very little to prevent children below this age from accessing their services.
"The DSA requires platforms to enforce their own rules: terms and conditions should not be mere written statements, but rather the basis for concrete action to protect users - including children."
The Commission said Meta's risk assessment was incomplete and arbitrary, and had failed to properly identify the risks of under-13s accessing Facebook and Instagram or being exposed to age-inappropriate experiences.
It said Meta appeared to have disregarded evidence indicating that about 10% to 12% of children under 13 in the EU use Instagram or Facebook, as well as scientific evidence showing younger children were more vulnerable to potential harms from such services.
Meta rejected the preliminary findings.
"We disagree with these preliminary findings," said a company spokesperson.
"We're clear that Instagram and Facebook are intended for people aged 13 and older and we have measures in place to detect and remove accounts from anyone under that age.
"We continue to invest in technologies to find and remove underage users and will have more to share next week about additional measures rolling out soon."
The spokesperson added that understanding users' ages was "an industry-wide challenge, which required an industry-wide solution," and said Meta would continue to engage constructively with the Commission.
Meta could now examine the Commission's investigation file and respond in writing.
If the findings were confirmed, the Commission can issue a non-compliance decision and impose a fine of up to 6% of Meta's total worldwide annual turnover, as well as periodic penalty payments to force compliance.
Meta reported revenue of $201bn for 2025, according to the Guardian.
The preliminary findings formed part of formal proceedings opened against Facebook and Instagram in May 2024.
The Commission said the investigation was based on risk assessment reports, internal data and documents, Meta's replies to information requests, and input from civil society groups and child-protection experts.
Brussels said the platforms would need to change their risk assessment methodology and strengthen measures to prevent, detect and remove users under 13, while ensuring a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors.
The Commission said its work was benchmarked against its 2025 DSA guidelines on protecting minors, which identify age estimation and age verification as appropriate tools when they are accurate, reliable, robust, non-intrusive and non-discriminatory.
The case came amid intensifying scrutiny of social media platforms' impact on children and broader debate over age restrictions.
Spain was backing a social media ban for under-16s, French lawmakers had voted for restrictions for under-15s, and the UK government said it was considering age or functionality restrictions for children under 16.
Australia has already moved to implement a ban for under-16s.
The EU had also developed a blueprint for an age verification app intended to allow users to prove their age online without sharing other personal details with platforms.
The Commission said it was continuing to investigate other possible DSA breaches by Meta, including whether Instagram and Facebook adequately protected minors and users of all ages from risks to physical and mental wellbeing.
That inquiry also covered whether the design of the platforms' interfaces may exploit minors' vulnerabilities, contribute to addictive behaviour or reinforce so-called "rabbit hole" effects.
At 0707 EDT (1207 BST), shares in Meta Platforms were down 0.06% in premarket trading in New York at $670.94.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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