Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) – MEPs called on Thursday the EU to force Meta to apply on European soil the measures to protect minors that he committed to implementing in the United States to settle a historic trial.
Published on: 09/03/2026 - 1:17 p.m. Modified on: 09/03/2026 - 2:42 p.m.
The Californian company reached an agreement in around fifty US states and territories in August: in addition to a payment of $17 billion, it committed to limiting the use of its social networks to two hours per day for those under 18 and blocking their access between midnight and 6:00 a.m. Only a parent can adjust these settings.
But this will only apply in the signatory American states, the agreement specifying that it does not create any precedent elsewhere in the United States, “nor in any international jurisdiction”.
To the great dismay of around fifty MEPs, led by French MP Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Renew, centre), who called on the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to force Meta's hand.
“European children are no less important than Americans” and “it would be unbearable if European minors found themselves less well protected”, argue these elected officials from all sides, from the environmentalist ranks to those of the right, including the social democrats, The Left (radical left) and the centrists.
They are outraged that Meta contested the preliminary conclusions of a Commission investigation, which ordered it in July to modify the interfaces deemed too "addictive" of Facebook and Meta, which it has just committed to doing in the United States.
According to them, in view of these elements, the Commission should conclude its investigation and condemn Meta, requiring it to take such measures.
They even go so far as to suggest that Brussels ask European justice "if necessary" to temporarily block access to Facebook and Instagram, until the American giant complies.
Such a suspension would be completely unprecedented, but it is provided for as a last resort by the European regulation on digital services (Digital services act), this powerful EU law on which the European investigation against Meta is based.
According to them, such a sanction could have more effect than the fines so far imposed by the EU on digital giants, and convince them to change the harmful aspects of their economic models.
Asked about this initiative, the Commission disputed the idea that its investigation targeting Meta would be too slow, emphasizing that the American trial followed three years of proceedings, and that the group's commitments in the United States would be implemented over a period of ten years.
“We managed to establish similar preliminary conclusions in just two years,” underlined Thomas Regnier, spokesperson for the European executive on digital matters.
“We will apply our laws without fail” and “we will not be satisfied with one or two protections,” he assured.
“We are ready to further tighten the rules in Europe on this subject, but I think that the platforms could already do a lot more now,” the vice-president of the Commission in charge of Digital, Henna Virkkunen, also declared to AFP on Wednesday, on the sidelines of a G20 ministerial meeting organized in the United States.
© 2026 AFP
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