EU lawmakers demand Brussels force Meta to 'protect' European children

European Union lawmakers have demanded that the bloc's executive compel Meta to change the "addictive" design of its platforms in Europe, as the giant has promised to do in some US states, according to a letter seen by AFP on Thursday.

Meta agreed last month to pay a coalition of US states as much as $16.7 billion and to impose sweeping new limits on how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram, including an automatic night-time block, as part of a landmark court settlement.

The 27-nation EU has been pushing for similar changes and in July told Meta to change its "addictive design" in findings the company said it disagreed with at the time.

Now in a letter dated Wednesday from French EU lawmaker Stephanie Yon-Courtin and signed by 51 other members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from across the political spectrum, Brussels is being urged to act fast and to force Meta's hand.

"European children are worth no less than American ones," the letter said.

"It would therefore be untenable for European minors to end up less well protected, when our framework is the most demanding in the world."

The EU began its probe into Meta in 2024 under the Digital Services Act (DSA), a content law that has been fiercely criticised by the United States.

The lawmakers said the European Commission, the EU's digital regulator, should conclude the probe "without further delay" with a "non-compliance decision" and penalties.

"And should commitments be accepted.., they must on no account fall short of what Meta has just granted to American users," the MEPs said in the letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

They also suggested the EU should be ready to ask a court to block access to platforms temporarily if necessary "once other powers have been exhausted and where an infringement persists and causes serious harm".

The lawmakers said the measure was "not about censoring a service or banning a social network; it is about no longer brandishing a threat that nobody believes in".

Fines could be "written off" by tech titans, they argued, but a "shutdown ordered by a judge reaches the business model itself".

The lawmakers accused von der Leyen of failing to deliver on a political pledge to make online spaces safer for children.

"Will the protection of minors online still be among your priorities?" they wrote. "The commission speaks but does not deliver."

EU spokesman Thomas Regnier told reporters the commission remained committed to ensuring change as talks continue with Meta.

"We'll not settle with one or two inbuilt safeguards, this is not enough. We tackle the core design features of these platforms. This is what matters to us, and this is what has to change to protect our kids," Regnier said.

The DSA is a major weapon in the EU's boosted legal arsenal, agreed in recent years to rein in Big Tech firms.

The EU is due to announce some form of ban on social media for children later this month -- although the full details are not yet known.

"If platforms are not building safety-by-design features in their systems, we will have to do more," Regnier said.