Facebook (now known as Meta) has been fined €405 million ($402 million) by the Irish Data Protection Commission over its handling of children’s privacy settings on Instagram.
Engadget reports that Facebook has been fined €405 million ($402 million) by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) over its handling of children’s privacy settings on Instagram, which allegedly violated Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This is the second-largest fine that the regulator has levied against Facebook.
A spokesperson for the DPC confirmed that the fine had been issued and said further details about the situation would be available next week. The fine relates to Instagram’s privacy settings on accounts controlled by children.
The DPC investigated Instagram over children using business accounts, which made personal data such as email addresses and phone numbers visible to the public. The investigation also examined Instagram’s policy of automatically making all new accounts, including those created by teens, viewable to the public.
A Facebook spokesperson told Politico in a statement:
This inquiry focused on old settings that we updated over a year ago, and we’ve since released many new features to help keep teens safe and their information private.
Anyone under 18 automatically has their account set to private when they join Instagram, so only people they know can see what they post, and adults can’t message teens who don’t follow them. We engaged fully with the DPC throughout their inquiry, and we’re carefully reviewing their final decision.
Facebook can still appeal the fine but appears to not have done so yet. The fine comes as Instagram faces intense scrutiny over its handling of child safety issues. Previously, the company shut down the development of its Instagram Kids app following claims that the company was ignoring research indicating the app can have a negative impact on the mental health of teenage users.
Read more at Engadget here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan