Commission opens formal proceedings against Meta under the Digital Services Act related to the protection of minors on Facebook and Instagram

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Today, the Commission has opened formal proceedings to assess whether Meta, the provider of Facebook and Instagram, may have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas linked to the protection of minors. 

The Commission is concerned that the systems of both Facebook and Instagram, including their algorithms, may stimulate behavioural addictions in children, as well as create so-called ‘rabbit-hole effects’. In addition, the Commission is also concerned about age-assurance and verification methods put in place by Meta.

Today’s opening of proceedings is based on a preliminary analysis of the risk assessment report sent by Meta in September 2023, Meta’s replies to the Commission’s formal requests for information (on the protection of minors and the methodology of the risk assessment), publicly available reports as well as the Commission’s own analysis.

The current proceedings address the following areas: 

• Meta’s compliance with DSA obligations on assessment and mitigation of risks caused by the design of Facebook’s and Instagram’s online interfaces, which may exploit the weaknesses and inexperience of minors and cause addictive behaviour, and/or reinforce so-called ‘rabbit hole’ effect. Such an assessment is required to counter potential risks for the exercise of the fundamental right to the physical and mental well-being of children as well as to the respect of their rights. 
• Meta’s compliance with DSA requirements in relation to the mitigation measures to prevent access by minors to inappropriate content, notably age-verification tools used by Meta, which may not be reasonable, proportionate and effective.
• Meta’s compliance with DSA obligations to put in place appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors, particularly with regard to default privacy settings for minors as part of the design and functioning of their recommender systems.

If proven, these failures would constitute infringements of Articles 28, 34, and 35 of the DSA. The opening of formal proceedings does not prejudge its outcome, and is without prejudice to any other proceeding that the Commission may decide to initiate on any other conduct that may constitute an infringement under the DSA. 

Next Steps 

The Commission will now carry out an in-depth investigation as a matter of priority and will continue to gather evidence, for example by sending additional requests for information, conducting interviews or inspections. 

The opening of formal proceedings empowers the Commission to take further enforcement steps, such as adopting interim measures and non-compliance decisions. The Commission is also empowered to accept commitments made by Meta to remedy the issues raised in the proceedings.

The opening of these formal proceedings relieves Digital Services Coordinators, or any other competent authority of EU Member States, of their powers to supervise and enforce the DSA in relation to a suspected infringement of Article 28 (1). 

Background 

Facebook and Instagram were designated as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) on 25 April 2023 under the EU’s Digital Services Act, as they both have more than 45 million monthly active users in the EU. As VLOPs, four months from their designation, i.e. at the end of August 2023, Facebook and Instagram had to start complying with a series of obligations set out in the DSA. Since 17 February, the Digital Services Act applies to all online intermediaries in the EU. 

On 30 April 2024, the Commission had already opened formal proceedings against Meta, in relation to both Facebook and Instagram, on deceptive advertising, political content, notice and action mechanisms, data access for researchers, as well as on the non-availability of an effective third-party real-time civic discourse and election-monitoring tool ahead of the European Parliament elections. 

For More Information

EU Official Journal text on the DSA 

Very large online platforms and search engines under the DSA 

The enforcement framework under the Digital Services Act

Digital Services Act – Questions and Answers

Quote(s)

Today we are taking another step to ensure safety for young online users. With the Digital Services Act we established rules that can protect minors when they interact online. We have concerns that Facebook and Instagram may stimulate behavioural addiction and that the methods of age verification that Meta has put in place on their services is not adequate and will now carry on an in-depth investigation. We want to protect young people’s mental and physical health.

Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age

Today we open formal proceedings against Meta. We are not convinced that it has done enough to comply with the DSA obligations to mitigate the risks of negative effects to the physical and mental health of young Europeans on its platforms Facebook and Instagram. We will now investigate in-depth the potential addictive and “rabbit hole” effects of the platforms, the effectiveness of their age verification tools, and the level of privacy afforded to minors in the functioning of recommender systems. We are sparing no effort to protect our children.

Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market