• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer, Yesterday

Facebook and Instagram -- two companies owned by Meta Platforms -- were charged on Wednesday with breaching landmark European Union (EU) rules for not doing enough to block kids under 13 from accessing the social networks, EU regulators said.

Allowing minors to access the sites breaches the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU said, and parent company Meta Platforms needs to take responsibility for failing to identify, assess and mitigate the risks of minors accessing its services.

Meta is often categorized alongside Google and Amazon as one of the "big three" performance channels because of its ability to measure outcomes, use predictive AI, and focus on automation.

“Meta’s own general conditions indicate their services are not intended for minors under 13,” stated Henna Virkkunen, executive vice president of tech sovereignty, security and democracy at the EU.

“Terms and conditions should not be mere written statements, but rather the basis for concrete action to protect users, including children,” she wrote, adding that the DSA requires platforms to enforce their own rules.

The EU Commission explained in the release it used the 2025 DSA Guidelines on the protection of minors as a benchmark to evaluate Instagram's and Facebook's compliance with the obligation to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors.

The DSA guidelines identify age estimation and age verification as an appropriate and proportionate way of ensuring a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors.

To be effective, all age-assurance technologies must be accurate, reliable, robust, non-intrusive and non-discriminatory.

Meta, of course, disagreed with the preliminary findings, and intends to respond to the charges before the Commission issues a final decision. DSA breaches typically cost companies up to 6% of their global annual turnover in fines.

The EU -- which estimates that between 10% and 12% of children under 13 in Europe use Facebook and Instagram -- is concerned about the impact of social media worldwide.

It has not been a good week for Meta. China on Monday blocked Meta from acquiring the artificial intelligence (AI)  startup Manus, a deal that apparently concerned Beijing about the transfer of advanced technology.

In a one-line statement to several news outlets, China's National Development and Reform Commission, the country's planning agency, said it prohibited the foreign acquisition and required all parties to withdraw from the deal.

It did not specifically name Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook and Instagram.

Manus would have given Meta’s company a boost in AI advancements at a price of about $2 billion. The company said its Chinese roots are based in Singapore, but that didn’t seem to make much difference.

Scheduled to announce earnings today, it’s not clear whether Meta will address all decision, but analysts are looking for updates on AI capex, according to Business Insider, as the company is one of the most “prolific spenders" among big tech.