By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, April 29 (Reuters) - Meta Platform’ (META.O) Facebook and Instagram were charged on Wednesday with breaching landmark EU tech rules and must do more to prevent children under 13 from accessing both social networks, EU regulators said on Wednesday.
The charges under the Digital Services Act, which requires Big Tech to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content on their platforms, came after a two-year long investigation by the European Commission.
The EU tech enforcer said Meta does not do enough to enforce its restrictions against children under 13 from using Facebook and Instagram and that measures to identify and remove them when they do access the services were inadequate.
It said 10-12% of children under 13 in Europe use Facebook and Instagram.
“Our preliminary findings show that Instagram and Facebook are doing very little to prevent children below this age from accessing their services,” EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said in a statement.
“Terms and conditions should not be mere written statements, but rather the basis for concrete action to protect users – including children,” she said.
The Commission said both platforms must change their risk assessment methodology and that they need to strengthen measures to prevent, detect and remove minors from their services.
Meta can respond to the charges and take measures before the Commission issues a decision. DSA breaches can cost companies fines as much as 6% of their global annual turnover.

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- Meta Platforms' Facebook and Instagram have been charged by EU regulators for failing to adequately prevent children under 13 from accessing their services under the Digital Services Act.  
- The European Commission's two-year investigation revealed that 10-12% of European children under 13 use these platforms, and current measures to enforce restrictions are deemed insufficient.  
- Meta is required to enhance its risk assessment methodology and implement stronger measures to protect minors, with the potential for fines of up to 6% of global annual turnover for violations.

Reuters

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Facebook, Instagram charged with breaching rules, must do more to protect kids below 13, EU says