DistantNews
Support us
🇲🇽 Mexico /Culture & Society

EU says Meta has not done enough to protect children on social media as talks continue

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • The European Commission said Meta has not offered satisfactory measures to close its investigation into child protection on Facebook and Instagram.
  • The Commission preliminarily found that features such as infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications and personalized recommendations may breach the Digital Services Act by failing to address risks to users’ well-being.
  • Meta remains in talks with Brussels and could face a fine of up to 6% of its global annual turnover if the preliminary findings are confirmed.

The European Commission says Meta has still put “nothing satisfactory on the table” that would allow Brussels to close its investigation into child protection on Facebook and Instagram.

Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said the case would not end with one or two partial safeguards. “We are not going to close the case with one or two safeguards. That is not what the DSA was built for,” he said, referring to the European Union’s Digital Services Act.

What is clear is that we have nothing satisfactory on the table that would allow us to close the case. That is a fact.

· Thomas RegnierThe European Commission spokesman said Meta had not offered measures sufficient to end the investigation.

The Commission preliminarily concluded on July 10 that the “addictive” design of Instagram and Facebook violates the DSA. It said Meta had not properly assessed the risks that features including infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications and personalized recommendation systems pose to users’ physical and mental well-being. The concerns cover children as well as vulnerable adults.

We are not going to close the case with one or two safeguards. That is not what the DSA was built for.

· Thomas RegnierRegnier rejected the possibility of resolving the investigation through limited measures.

If the preliminary findings are confirmed, Meta could face a penalty of up to 6% of its worldwide annual turnover, potentially exceeding 11 billion euros. Regnier said the company remained in continuous dialogue with the Commission, while stressing that the DSA investigation was not Brussels’ only route.

The Commission is preparing a separate proposal on children’s use of social media. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to outline its direction in her State of the Union speech scheduled for Sept. 16 in Strasbourg. The Commission also confirmed that it had received a letter signed by 51 members of the European Parliament, led by French liberal Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, urging action against Meta without further delay.

We want to be fast and effective, and we will enforce our legislation firmly.

· Thomas RegnierThe spokesman defended the Commission’s approach amid criticism that the investigation was moving slowly.
About this summary

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog