EU Escalates Meta Probe for Failing to Stop Kids Signing Up (1)

The European Union’s executive arm accused Meta Platforms Inc. of failing to keep young children off its services, ramping up a probe that could result in hefty fines.

The European Commission on Wednesday issued preliminary findings against the company, saying Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram fell short of their own minimum age restriction of 13 years old.

The apps have “no effective controls in place to check the correctness of the self-declared date of birth,” the commission said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that Meta’s tool to flag under-13s for removal “is difficult to use and not effective.”

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