Europe fines Instagram $402 million for ‘mishandling’ children’s data
Instagram's owner, Meta, says it plans to appeal the $402 million fine
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Regulators in Ireland slapped Instagram with a $402 million fine Monday, the second-largest fine to be imposed under the European Union's new internet privacy laws.
Ireland's Data Protection Commission announced the fine Monday, saying Instagram had wrongfully displayed some private information for teen users. The fine is the second-largest to be imposed in the EU since Amazon was fined $887 million in 2021.
Regulators say that many minors had switched their account identities to business accounts rather than private accounts, allowing them to view certain statistics about how many views and likes their posts received. Instagram had removed that feature from private accounts.
Business accounts reveal the email addresses and phone numbers of their account holders, however. While Instagram requires users to be 13 years old, regulators have banned social media platforms from publicizing the private information of anyone under 18 years old.
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Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, objected to the fine on Tuesday.
"We disagree with how this fine was calculated and intend to appeal it," the company said in a statement, adding that it had "engaged fully" with regulators.
Ireland's regulatory commission is the lead enforcer of the EU's privacy laws.
The crackdown on Instagram comes months after the EU passed another landmark tech regulation in July. The Digital Markets Act targets companies like Meta, Google, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft with a swath of new rules.
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The law bans companies from preventing users from removing pre-installed apps or programs from their devices. It also bans advertising to children involving religion, gender, race and political opinions.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.