Instagram and Facebook must improve age verification after the European Commission investigation

The access of minors to social networks is making the news because of the limitations that governments are imposing. Specifically, the The Council of Ministers in Spain has prohibited minors under 16 years of age from entering social networksa question that the European Commission. The latter has even concluded, after an investigation, that Meta has violated the Digital Services Law by not taking the necessary measures to Children under 13 years of age access Instagram and Facebook.

The European Commission points out Meta for failing to comply with the Digital Services Law with minors

The European Commission has determined that Meta has acted passively when it comes to preventing Children under 13 years of age access Facebook and Instagram. The investigation has concluded that Meta did not take the necessary measures for these minors to access two of their well-known social networks, contradicting the Digital Services Act (DSA). The statement expressly indicates that Meta did not identify or mitigate risks that they can present their social networks for children under 13 years of age, and that the restrictions implemented to prevent access are not effective.

The restrictions implemented are nothing more than a voluntary declaration of agewithout other additional verification methods. The European Commissionand with all the right in the world, believes that this method is insufficientand that also tool to report minors is difficult to use and ineffective. Even under 13 years old reported by other usersoften there is no subsequent communication and the minor can continue using the social network without major problems. The EC has estimated that approximately between 10 and 12% of minors have access to Facebook and/or Instagram.

Fine of up to 6% for Meta: it could reach 12 billion dollars

Although it has not yet been established final judgmentat least Instagram and Facebook must change their age verification system to determine if a minor requests access to one of these social networks. A system that is surely supported by governments of many countriesso that the age verification is a reliable requirement and prevent minors from having unlimited access to the social networks of Meta and other internet giants.

If the EC finally determines guilty of this situation Goalyou can sanction him with a fine of up to 6% of your global annual turnover. An amount that, although it may seem small, can amount to up to 12,000 million dollars of sanction.