EU threatens Meta with 'heavy sanctions' if it fails to protect children

The EU on Thursday threatened tech giant Meta with "heavy sanctions" and urged the company to take "immediate action" for the protection of children.

"Meta's voluntary code on child protection seems not to work," EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton asserted on Twitter.

He urged the company's CEO Mark Zuckerberg to "explain and take immediate action," and said they would discuss the matter in person later in June at Meta's headquarters.

Breton also threatened Meta with "heavy sanctions" if it fails to comply with EU rules after the new Digital Services Act enters into force.

His comments came after U.S. daily newspaper Wall Street Journal revealed that a pedophile network could operate on Instagram because the platform allowed to post hashtags and search for explicit keywords.

This is the second time this week that the EU executive body voices harsh criticism of social media firms.

On Monday, EU Commissioner Vera Jourova said that the EU will "scrutinize vigorously and urgently" Twitter after the company "chose confrontation" with the bloc by quitting the EU's voluntary Code of Practice.

Entering into force on Aug. 25, the new EU law on digital services will impose stricter rules on digital platforms.

Companies that fail to comply with the new EU standards can be fined up to 6% of their global turnover.