
Meta-owned photo and video platform; found in breach of DSA child-safety rules, April 2026.
Instagram, Meta's photo and video platform, was found in breach of the Digital Services Act on 29 April 2026 over insufficient child-safety protections, a finding issued separately from Meta's parallel WhatsApp antitrust dispute.
Last refreshed: 23 July 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics
How many regulators are simultaneously investigating Instagram for child safety in 2026?
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Instagram was found in breach of the Digital Services Act on 29 April 2026 for insufficient child safety protections, a finding the European Commission issued separately from Meta's parallel WhatsApp interoperability dispute . That WhatsApp track runs under Article 102 antitrust powers rather than the DMA: the Commission's 9 June 2026 interim order restoring rival AI assistants' access to WhatsApp's Business API had to invoke pre-DMA competition law, since the DMA does not reach private messaging platforms, with fines of up to 10% of Meta's global turnover if it fails to comply by June 2029 .
Launched in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, Instagram was acquired by Facebook (now Meta) in 2012 for approximately $1 billion, and is now one of the world's largest social platforms with over 2 billion monthly active users.
Instagram's appearances outside European regulation are incidental to that: Argentina defender Nicolás Otamendi used the platform on 20 July 2026 to announce his international retirement after the World Cup final .