EU launches investigation into Meta's impact on minors' addiction

[New Sancai Compilation First Release] The European Union (EU) has launched an investigation into Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta, investigating the potential addictive effects of these platforms on children.

The European Commission, the European Union's executive agency, announced on May 16 that it had launched a "formal lawsuit" against Meta to determine whether it violated the protection of children in the Digital Services Act (DSA).

"We are not convinced that (Meta) has taken sufficient steps to comply with DSA obligations to mitigate the risk of negative impacts on the physical and mental health of young people in Europe on the Facebook and Instagram platforms," EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said in a statement.

He added: "We will now delve into the potential addiction and rabbit hole effects of these platforms, the effectiveness of age verification tools, and the degree of privacy provided to minors in the operation of recommendation systems." "We are leaving no stone unturned. to protect our children."

The commission said in a press release that the design of the Facebook and Instagram platforms "could exploit the vulnerabilities and inexperience of minors and lead to addictive behavior."

The group is also reviewing Meta's age verification tools to ensure they are "reasonable, proportionate and effective", as well as measures taken to "ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors".

According to a press release, the Commission launched an investigation into Meta in April for "deceptive advertising, political content, notification and action mechanisms, data access by researchers, and the lack of effective third parties, discussions and elections ahead of the European Parliament elections" Monitoring Tools".

In a statement, the tech giant said it had spent "a decade developing more than 50 tools, features and resources" to protect young people on its platforms. "This is a challenge facing the entire industry, which is why we continue to advance industry-wide age protection solutions and apply them to all apps accessed by teenagers," a Meta spokesperson said. "We look forward to sharing the results of our work with the European Commission. detail."

(Compiled by: Wang Jimin)

(Editor: Jiang Qiming)

(Source of the article: Compiled and published by New Sancai)