Documents to refer:

• European Commission’s Press Release [pdf]
• EU’s Digital Services Act, 2022. [pdf]
• EU’s Guidelines on measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors online, 2025. [pdf]

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Meta’s ineffective age checks: “Despite Meta’s own terms and conditions setting the minimum age to access Instagram and Facebook safely at 13, the measures put in place by the company to enforce these restrictions do not seem to be effective,” said the European Commission. It also said that Meta’s Instagram and Facebook failed to “diligently identify, assess, and mitigate the risks of minors under 13 years old accessing their services”.

What EC’s preliminary investigation found:

• No age verification: “Meta doesn’t have effective controls to verify the date of birth entered by the users, thereby enabling users and those under 13 to use a fake date of birth to access the platform,” it said.
• Ineffective reporting tools: The Commission said that Meta’s tool for reporting minors under 13 to the platform is “difficult to use and not effective, requiring up to seven clicks just to access the reporting form, which is not automatically pre-filled with the user’s information”.
• No follow-ups after reporting: The EC said that Meta failed to carry out follow-ups after reports were made, thereby enabling minors to continue using Meta’s applications without any checks.

What next? Meta can examine the EC’s investigation files and reply to its findings. If Meta is found guilty of violating the 2025 DSA Guidelines, on the protection of minors and the DSA, the tech giant could face a fine of up to 6% of its total worldwide annual turnover.

EC’s 2024 investigation into Meta’s design choices: “Meta’s compliance with Digital Services Act (DSA) obligations on assessment and mitigation of risks caused by the design of Facebook’s and Instagram’s online interfaces, which may exploit the weaknesses and inexperience of minors and cause addictive behaviour, and/or reinforce so-called ‘rabbit hole’ effect,” read the 2024 press release when EC announced its investigation into Meta to ensure the “physical and mental well-being of children as well as to the respect of their rights.”

Recent news on EC and its age verification app: The EC’s press release came just 15 days after the launch of the EU’s Age Verification App on April 15, 2026. The intention behind the age verification app is to restrict under-18s from accessing “adult-restricted online content, such as pornography, gambling, purchasing alcohol, and others”.

Hacked within minutes: Within hours of the launch, security researcher Paul Moore claimed he hacked the application in two minutes and said, “Seriously @vonderleyen, this product will be the catalyst for an enormous breach at some point. It’s just a matter of time,” while tagging the president of the European Union.

What’s happening in India? Following the global trends, Indian politicians also started to announce their plans to restrict or ban children from social media. Some instances include:

• Karnataka: CM Siddaramaiah announced during his 2026–27 state budget speech in March 2026 that the government will ban social media for children under 16.
• Andhra Pradesh: On the same day, AP CM Chandra Babu Naidu also said that the state will ban social media access for under-13s within 90 days. Earlier, in January, AP IT minister Nara Lokesh said that the government would bring legislation similar to Australia’s law. The AP government also said it is considering DigiLocker tokens for age verification after meeting with tech giants like Meta Platforms, Google, X Corp., Snap Inc., ShareChat, and Josh in April 2026.
• Goa: The State is reviewing Australia’s recent law on restricting children’s access to social media, said Goa’s IT minister Rohan Khaunte.
• Union Government: In March the Indian Express reported that the central government is planning a separate law to create a three-tiered social media access framework for children under 18, ranging from 8-12, 12-16 and 16-18 years old with strict and moderate restrictions.

The Madras High Court in December 2025 said, “The Union of India may explore the possibility of passing legislation like Australia.” Till such legislation is passed, the authorities concerned shall accelerate their awareness campaign more effectively; they shall take the message to the vulnerable group through all available media. We hope that the Commission, both at the state and in the centre, will draw an action plan in this aspect and implement the same in letter and spirit.” The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) related to the availability of pornographic content online and on social media, and seeking a parental-control framework for children’s access to social media.

Why banning children from social media avoids the real problem: Read MediaNama editor Nikhil Pahwa’s arguments from February 2026 here.

Also Read:

• All you need to know about Australia’s plans to ban social media for teens and its age verification tech
• UK’s Ofcom Lays Down New Rules For Children’s Online Safety
• EU Proposes on Social Media Age Restrictions for Children Under 16