The charges under the Digital Services Act, which requires Big ​Tech to do more to tackle illegal and harmful ​content on their platforms, came after a two-year ⁠long investigation by the European Commission.

The EU tech enforcer ​said Meta does not do enough to enforce its restrictions ​against children under 13 from using Facebook and Instagram and that measures to identify and remove them when they do access the services ​were inadequate.

It said 10-12% of children under 13 in ​Europe use Facebook and Instagram.

“Our preliminary findings show that Instagram and ‌Facebook ⁠are doing very little to prevent children below this age from accessing their services,” EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said in a statement.

“Terms and conditions should not be mere ​written statements, but ​rather the ⁠basis for concrete action to protect users – including children,” she said.

The Commission said both platforms ​must change their risk assessment methodology and ​that they ⁠need to strengthen measures to prevent, detect and remove minors from their services.

Meta can respond to the charges and ⁠take measures ​before the Commission issues a ​decision. DSA breaches can cost companies fines as much as 6% of their ​global annual turnover.