EU child safety probes of Facebook & Instagram, citing addictive design concerns

The European Commission has opened formal proceedings against Facebook and Instagram's parent company Meta over child protection concerns, which it announced on a Thursday. Officials said they suspect Meta of failing to properly assess and mitigate risks to children, particularly from addictive design and algorithmic recommendations that can pull minors toward depression or unhealthy body image content. The Commission is also concerned that Meta's age assurance methods may be too easy for kids to circumvent. Penalties for confirmed breaches of the Digital Services Act could reach up to 6% of Meta's global annual turnover. Meta said it has developed more than 50 tools and policies to protect young people and stopped 96% of teens from changing their birthdays from under 18 to over 18 on Instagram.