Meta: €405 million fine over Instagram’s children’s privacy management

Meta was fined 405 million euros for managing the Instagram accounts of the youngest users. The American giant can still appeal.

Meta has been fined €405 million by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) for managing Instagram’s children’s privacy settings that do not comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). According to Politico, this is the second largest fine imposed under the GDPR and the third largest fine imposed by the regulator on Meta.

Meta fined 405 million euros

A DPC spokesperson confirmed the fine and said further details of the decision would be released next week. This penalty was resolved due to the privacy settings of the photo sharing app for child accounts. The DPC has been investigating Instagram for the use of the platform by sub-business accounts, accounts that make public certain personal details such as an email address or phone number. The survey also addressed Instagram’s default policy to display all new accounts, including teen accounts.

for managing the Instagram accounts of the youngest users

“This investigation focused on old settings that we updated over a year ago, and since then we’ve implemented many new features to help protect teens and keep their information private,”a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to Politico. “Anyone under the age of 18 has their account automatically closed when they join Instagram, so only people they know can see what they post, and adults can’t message teens who don’t. We have fully cooperated with the DPC throughout the investigation and are carefully considering their final decision.”

The American giant can still appeal

The fine, which Meta can still appeal, is due to the fact that Instagram is in the spotlight because of how it cares about the safety of young users. The company halted development of its Instagram Kids app last year after a whistleblower said Meta had ignored its own research indicating the app could negatively impact the mental health of some teens. Since then, several security features have been added to the app – and there may be some paid ones – including creating private teen accounts by default.