EU finds Meta failed to stop under-13s accessing Instagram and Facebook

Meta has failed to enforce its own age restrictions on Instagram and Facebook, breaching the EU’s Digital Services Act, the European Commission has preliminarily found.

Both platforms set 13 as the minimum age, but regulators said those rules are not being upheld in practice. Children can still sign up by entering false birthdates, with no meaningful checks to verify their age.

The Commission also found that systems for reporting underage users are ineffective. Tools are difficult to access and often fail to trigger follow-up, allowing flagged accounts to remain active.

The findings form part of an investigation launched in May 2024 into how Meta assesses and mitigates risks to minors under the DSA, including exposure to age-inappropriate content.

A Meta spokesperson said the company disagrees with the Commission’s preliminary conclusions.

“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. Understanding age is an industry-wide challenge, which requires an industry-wide solution, and we will continue to engage constructively with the European Commission on this important issue.”

Meta now has the opportunity to respond to the findings. If the breach is confirmed, the Commission can impose fines of up to 6% of the company’s global annual turnover.