This is the sixth formal investigation launched by the European Commission, and the second targeting Meta, as part of new legislation coming into force in 2023 to combat illegal content online. On Thursday May 16, the European Commission opened an investigation targeting the social networks Facebook and Instagram (Meta group).
They are suspected of developing addictive behaviors in children and failing to meet age verification requirements. “We are not convinced that Meta has done enough to mitigate risks to the physical and mental health of young Europeans on its platforms” in line with obligations under the EU Digital Services Act, the EU commissioner said Thierry Breton, quoted in a press release.
Brussels is particularly concerned about “the risks caused by the design of Facebook and Instagram’s interfaces, which can exploit the weaknesses and inexperience of minors and cause addictive behavior.” The Commission considers efforts to “prevent minors’ access to inappropriate content, including the age verification tools used by Meta” to be insufficient.
Major web players under surveillance
The American group had already been warned last November about the protection of minors but its responses to formal requests from Brussels were clearly not considered reassuring. The opening of an investigation “does not prejudge its outcome”, underlines the Commission. The procedure will allow the European executive to continue to accumulate evidence and put pressure on Meta for improvements.
The regulation on digital services has applied since the end of August to the most powerful online platforms such as X, TikTok as well as the main services of Meta, Apple, Google, Microsoft or Amazon. In total, 23 very large internet players, including three pornographic sites (Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos), were placed under the direct surveillance of the European Commission, which recruited more than a hundred experts in Brussels to assume its new role as digital policeman. Violators face fines of up to 6% of their annual global turnover, or even a ban on operating in Europe in the event of serious and repeated violations.
TikTok, AliExpress…
The European Commission had already opened an investigation at the end of April against Facebook and Instagram, accused of not fighting sufficiently against disinformation. She had previously opened two investigations targeting TikTok, one of which pushed this subsidiary of Chinese ByteDance to suspend a controversial function which rewarded users for time spent in front of screens and was suspected of causing addiction among adolescents.
A procedure was also launched at the beginning of March against the Chinese online commerce giant AliExpress, a subsidiary of Alibaba, suspected of not sufficiently combating the sale of dangerous products such as fake medicines. The first formal investigation already focused on risks linked to disinformation. It was initiated on December 18 against the social network X (formerly Twitter) for alleged failures in content moderation and transparency.