Facebook not so much though Today, Instagram is among the social networks preferred by the little ones. Of course, not as much as TikTok, because ByteDance’s service managed to become its favorite, which in turn caused other services to try to replicate (with more or less success) the formula used by TikTok in order to try to attract , precisely the audience that, for many reasons highly requested by those responsible for these services.

This led those responsible on more than one occasion to to act beyond what would be desirable, which has landed them investigations and sanctions in the past, which they don’t seem to have learned from, even if they fill their mouths from time to time stating how hard they work to properly cater to said audience. A supposed protectionist stance that those of us who remember Instagram’s recent history don’t believe.

Fortunately, it seems once again The European Union focused on Meta and more specifically on whether it is doing the right thing in protecting minorsand according to European Commissioner Thierry Breton on his Twitter account «We are not convinced that Meta has done enough to meet its DSA obligations: mitigate the risks of negative impacts on the physical and mental health of young Europeans on its Facebook and Instagram platforms.«.

The DSA (Digital Services Act) regulates together with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) technological activities and as you already know, both apply from 2023. The DMA has been the most talked about in recent months, but the truth is that the services rule also introduces a fairly strict regulatory framework. You can find more information about both on the European Commission’s website about them.

The Meta investigation is now open on Facebook and Instagramthis will focus on the three points made by Breton in the second report:

• Potentially addictive and “rabbit hole” effects of platforms.
• Effectiveness of age verification tools.
• The level of privacy and security provided to minors when operating referral systems.

This is the second investigation the European Union has opened into Meta for potential non-compliance with the DSA, as it launched another investigation last month that will try to determine whether the company’s social networks did everything in their power to fight misinformationsomething his laxity has more than proven in the past.

If we talk about their “concern” about minors, we have to remember their (now on the fridge) plans to create an Instagram for minors, although at that time they already knew more than the harmful effects of this social network. on said audience. So with those precedents, the whole research is undoubtedly excellent news.