After two years of investigation, Meta has been fined by Ireland's Data Protection Commission for almost $402 million because of mishandling data of teenagers on Instagram. This decision concluded last Friday, and other details will be released next week, as DPC spokesperson Caolmhe McGuire confirmed on The Verge.

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This picture taken on September 28, 2020 shows the logo of the social network Instagram on a smartphone, in Toulouse, southwestern France. - The Instagram group will, in early October 2020, celebrate its ten-year anniversary.

DPC focused on two allegations in which they made a final decision. First is that the platform allows young users (13-17 years of age) to start business accounts that make their contact information publicly available, and second is that Instagram made the teenagers' accounts public by default.

The EU's General Data Protection Regulation aims to enhance the protection of youth's information and ensures that by targeting young audiences, anything should be transparent and have accountability principles that children can understand. 

Meta also faced a lawsuit last year regarding WhatsApp's breaching privacy law, which was also investigated by DPC. Meta faced $267 Million after the final decision. According to Politico, DPC has more upcoming investigations against big tech companies, which will include additional Meta-related cases. 

Adding to this, Tiktok is also on the watch as DPC is currently investigating the company on how they handle children's data. The inquiry started a year ago. It will take some time to conclude a final decision as these cases take a while. 

Also Read: Instagram Suspends Pornhub's Account on the Platform: Here's Why

Meta's Response

Meta defended the public-by-default and made a statement through Politico that states that the feature was updated more than a year ago. Anyone under 18 who will join Instagram will automatically be in public and will need to manually set it to private on their settings. 

A spokesperson from Meta also said that "This inquiry focused on old settings that we updated over a year ago, and we've since released many new features to help keep teens safe and their information private." The company disagreed with the final decision and how DPC calculated the amount, yet as per the Associated Press, Meta intended to appeal it.

Instagram's Previous Lawsuit this year

June this year when Meta also faced a lawsuit in California as a family alleged the company crafting their product (Instagram) that made users get addicted, which led to their family members being harmed physically and psychologically. Meta has also been ignoring warnings internally regarding the increasing negative effects on the mental health of its users, based on a report from Gizmodo.

As per the lawyers of the family, the teenager will have to face lifetime tests and therapy. They added, "She had to undergo professional counseling, in-patient programs, out-patient programs, participate in eating disorder programs and will likely require help in the form of a service dog for the rest of her life, as well as ongoing medical attention to ensure she does not digress,".

Related Article: Instagram Causes Teen's Eating Disorder - Lawsuit by Parents Alleges 

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Written by Inno Flores