The European Commission said that the measures put in place by Meta to prevent under-13s accessing their platforms “do not seem effective”, which would be a breach of the EU’s Digital Services Act.

A spokesperson for Meta said that the company disagreed with the preliminary findings and has measures in place to detect and remove accounts held by under-13s.

The Commission said that children below the age of 13 could use false birth dates to set up profiles, with “no effective controls in place” to check the date of birth was correct.

The investigation also flagged that Meta’s tool for reporting minors on its platforms was difficult to use, requiring up to seven clicks to access the reporting form, which was then not pre-filled with the user’s information.

A lack of a proper follow-up was also cited by the Commission, saying that a reported under-13 could continue to use the platform “without any type of check”.

“At this stage, the Commission considers that Instagram and Facebook must change their risk assessment methodology, in order to evaluate which risks arise on Instagram and Facebook in the European Union, and how they manifest,” a statement from the European Commission said.

“Moreover, Instagram and Facebook need to strengthen their measures to prevent, detect and remove minors under the age of 13 from their service. Meta must effectively counter and mitigate risks that minors under the age of 13 could experience on the platforms, which must ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors.”

Meta will now be allowed to examine the documents in the investigation file and reply in writing to the preliminary findings, as well as taking measures to remedy the issues raised.

A Meta spokesperson said: “We disagree with these preliminary findings. We’re clear that Instagram and Facebook are intended for people aged 13 and older and we have measures in place to detect and remove accounts from anyone under that age.

“We continue to invest in technologies to find and remove underage users and will have more to share next week about additional measures rolling out soon. Understanding age is an industry-wide challenge, which requires an industry-wide solution, and we will continue to engage constructively with the European Commission on this important issue.”