Renew’s reaction to Meta’s breach of the DSA
Today, the European Commission preliminarily found Instagram and Facebook in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) for failing to identify, assess and mitigate the risks of minors under 13 years old accessing their services. |
Sandro Gozi (Mouvement Démocrate /France), who sits in the Parliament’s working group supervising the Digital Services Act, says: “Enough is enough. Meta disregarded readily available scientific evidence showing that younger children are particularly vulnerable to the harms of platforms like Instagram and Facebook. This isn't negligence—it's a business model. The DSA gives Europe the tools to act. We have to use them.”
Sandro GoziRenew Europe MEP, France, Mouvement Démocrate
Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Renaissance/France), who negotiated a report on the protection of minors online for Renew, says: “This decision ends the era of platform impunity in Europe. But calling out Meta’s breach of the Digital Services Act is not enough. A violation must trigger immediate consequences: action, sanctions and temporary suspension until full compliance. Protecting minors online is not optional. It is non-negotiable.”
Stéphanie Yon-CourtinRenew Europe MEP, France, Renaissance
Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová (Progresívne Slovensko/Slovakia), who sits in the public health committee, says: “We keep hearing excuses from online platforms about why protecting children online is supposedly too difficult. Yet, in this case, they even ignore their own terms and conditions! Children under 13 years old should not be on social media. Just like they are not allowed to smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol. I urge the Commission to swiftly conclude the investigation and to come up with an EU harmonised approach to age limit for online platforms. This is a public health crisis that we are talking about.”
Veronika Cifrová OstrihoňováRenew Europe MEP, Slovakia, Progresívne Slovensko