EU investigates Snapchat for exposing children to grooming, drugs, and illegal product sales
The European Commission has formally opened an inquiry into Snapchat to determine whether the photo-sharing platform provides adequate safeguards for children's safety, privacy, and security online.
Snapchat app seen on a smartphone lying on an EU flag. Markus Lenhardt/picture alliance/Getty.
The European Commission has formally opened an inquiry into Snapchat to determine whether the photo-sharing platform provides adequate safeguards for children's safety, privacy, and security online.
According to the executive branch of the EU, Snapchat may be violating the Digital Services Act (DSA) by exposing minors to grooming attempts and recruitment for criminal purposes.
In addition, the platform may also provide information about the sale of illegal goods or age-restricted products, like drugs, vapes, and alcohol.
The investigation will focus on five areas. First, the European Commission is reviewing Snapchat’s age-verification policy to assess how children under the age of 13 are kept off the platform.
Secondly, the Commission is eager to know if Snapchat has implemented adequate safeguards to protect children from exposure to harmful content, adults with harmful intentions, and other risks.
Furthermore, the European Commission suspects that Snapchat’s default settings don’t provide sufficient safety, privacy, and security measures to protect minors. For example, when creating an account, users aren’t offered adequate guidance on privacy and safety features, nor explained how to adjust account settings.
The fourth area where the European Commission is looking into is the dissemination of information that could lead to the sale of illegal or banned products. The EU suspects that content moderation tools aren’t effective in stopping the sale of prohibited products.
Lastly, the Commission wants to know whether the mechanisms currently in place to notify users about illegal content are easy to access and user-friendly, or whether Snapchat might be using dark patterns in its design.
“From grooming and exposure to illegal products to account settings that undermine minors’ safety, Snapchat appears to have overlooked that the Digital Services Act demands high safety standards for all users. With this investigation, we will closely look into their compliance with our legislation,” Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy, said in a statement.
It’s unclear how much time the investigation will take or when the results will be presented.
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