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　　the photo sharing social application Instagram parent company Meta has been fined 405 million euros (about 403 million US dollars) by the Irish data watchdog, because the company allows teenagers to open accounts and Publicly display their phone number and email address.

　　The Irish Data Protection Commission confirmed the penalties following a two-year investigation into possible breaches of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) by Instagram.

　　Instagram allows users between the ages of 13 and 17 to operate business accounts on the platform, and it displays the user's phone number and email address. The Irish Data Protection Commission also found that accounts for users aged 13 to 17 were set to "public" by default under the user registration system run by the platform.

　　The committee oversees Meta on behalf of the entire EU, as its European headquarters is based in Ireland. This is the regulator's largest fine against Meta, which was slapped with a €225m fine in September 2021 for gross violations of GDPR regulations by its instant messaging app WhatsApp. In March, the company was fined another 17 million euros.

　　This is also the second-highest fine ever issued to a company under GDPR rules in history, after the €746 million fine imposed on Amazon in July 2021.

　　A spokesman for the Irish Data Protection Commission said: "We passed the final decision on Friday, which did contain a fine of €405 million. Full details of this decision will be announced next week."

　　Caroline Carruthers, head of a UK-based data consultancy, said Instagram did not carefully consider its privacy responsibilities when allowing teens to open business accounts, and showed a "clear lack of privacy" in user privacy settings. attention" attitude.

　　Carruthers pointed out: “GDPR has special provisions to ensure that any services directed to children meet a high standard of transparency. Instagram’s children’s accounts are set to be public by default rather than private, which conflicts with this provision. "

　　Last year, Meta suspended work on a children's version of Instagram after revelations about Instagram's impact on teen mental health.

　　Instagram said it was "on hold" to address concerns raised by parents, experts and regulators. This comes after "whistleblower" Frances Haugen revealed that Facebook's own research suggests that Instagram may affect girls' mental health on issues such as body image and self-esteem.

　　Instagram said that until September 2019, the company placed users' contact details on business accounts and notified users during the setup process. Today, when teens under 18 join the platform, their accounts are automatically set to private.

　　Andy Burrows, head of child safety online policy at the NSPCC, said: "This is a serious breach with significant safety implications for children using Instagram and has Can cause real harm. This ruling demonstrates how effective law enforcement can be in protecting children on social media, and highlights how regulation is already working to keep children safer online."

　　A spokesperson for Meta said: "This investigation has focused on legacy settings that we updated over a year ago and have since released many new features to help keep teens safe and the privacy of their information. When anyone under 18 joins Instagram, their account is automatically set to private, so only people they know can see what they post, and adults can't message teens who aren't following them."

　　The spokesman added: "While we have been cooperating fully with the Irish Data Protection Commission throughout the investigation, we disagree with the way this fine was calculated and intend to appeal. We are continuing to carefully review the decision. The rest of the content."