The EU threatens to fine Facebook and Instagram for lax oversight of terrorist and sexual abuse content.

BrusselsNew threat from Brussels against big American tech companiesThe European Commission announced this Friday that, after conducting an investigation, it has preliminarily concluded that the social platforms Facebook and Instagram—owned by the company Meta—do not have sufficiently efficient mechanisms for reporting illegal content within the European Union, particularly regarding documents glorifying terrorism and child sexual abuse.

The European Commission believes that both social networks do not have sufficient controls and prevention mechanisms against the publication and dissemination of this type of content, and asserts that user alert systems are not easy to use. "Many unnecessary steps have to be taken," the statement from the community executive indicates, which sees a way of hindering complaints.

Brussels also points out that the system that Instagram and Facebook make available to users to protest when one of their posts is removed does not work correctly and asserts that it "does not allow for providing sufficient explanations or evidence to support the allegations" for the content's removal.

On the other hand, the European Commission also considers that, along with TikTok, Meta's social networks are not sufficiently transparent with their algorithms, which mark what users end up seeing, nor when it comes to transferring data to the corresponding authorities, which hinders the European Union's control work.

Thus, Brussels is threatening Meta with sanctions if it continues to violate the European Union's Digital Services Act and does not take the required action. The fine from the EU executive could reach up to 6% of Meta's annual global revenue.

In a statement, however, the US company's spokesperson, Ben Walters, asserts that Meta does not violate EU law and that, since the Digital Services Act came into force, it has already introduced the necessary changes to its content alert system, appeals processes, and transparency. However, although it claims to already comply with EU law, the technology company has expressed its willingness to continue implementing changes and negotiating with EU authorities.