The social network Instagram has been fined 405 million euros for breaching the processing of data on minors, announced this Monday the Irish regulator, which acts on behalf of the European Union (EU).

“We adopted our decision last Friday and it includes a fine of €405 million. The details will be published next week,” a representative of the Irish Data Protection Commission told AFP. (DPC).

It is the toughest decision imposed by that authority since 2018, when the General Data Protection Regulation (GDRP) gave more power to regulators to protect consumers against the dominance of Facebook, Google, Apple and Twitter.

The DPC oversees on behalf of the EU Meta, which owns Instagram, as it has its regional headquarters in Ireland.

The regulator opened an investigation at the end of 2020, to determine whether the social network has put in place the necessary security to protect user data, especially in minors – to obtain an account you must be at least 13 years old.

The DPC expressed concern that users under the age of 18 could easily switch to a professional account. This type of account requires users to make their contact details public, making them visible to everyone on Instagram.