The European Commission has launched a formal procedure 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.
EU investigates Facebook, Instagram over child protection
The move follows a separate investigation into Meta's alleged failure to properly monitor the spread of political disinformation by "foreign actors" ahead of June's EU elections.
The latest action means the EU executive will investigate three potential breaches of the DSA, which was first introduced last August. The legislation allows for fines of up to 6 percent of global annual turnover, which in Meta's case would equate to around $8.5 billion.
First, the commission will investigate whether the social media giant has assessed and mitigated risks caused by the design of Facebook and Instagram's online interfaces, "which may exploit the weaknesses and inexperience of minors and cause addictive behavior, and/or reinforce the so-called 'rabbit hole effect.'
