European Commission Investigates Meta Over Underage User Access

The European Commission has provisionally found that Meta violated the Digital Services Act (DSA) by failing to prevent children under 13 from accessing Facebook and Instagram. An investigation launched in 2024 suggests that 10 to 12 percent of children under 13 in the European Union use these platforms, bypassing age checks with false birth dates. The Commission criticized Meta's internal risk assessments as inconsistent and insufficient, leaving the company facing potential fines of up to six percent of its global annual revenue.

In response to these safety gaps, the Commission is urging EU member states to deploy a new European age verification app by the end of 2026. This tool, which can be integrated into the European Digital Identity framework, aims to confirm age without disclosing exact identities. However, the initial open-source blueprint released by the Commission was criticized by security researchers as easily hackable, prompting officials to clarify that the release was a demo version.

Meta has defended its systems, stating it uses automated detection to remove underage accounts. Meanwhile, privacy critics and security experts warn that mandatory verification could create data gold mines for hackers. Some analysts further argue that age limits are often ineffective, citing evidence from Australia that users frequently circumvent such restrictions using VPNs.