The EU Commission has opened a formal procedure against Snapchat to examine whether the company complies with the Digital Services Act (DSA). Brussels said it suspects that Snapchat may have breached the law by inadequately protecting minors from grooming attempts and from recruitment for criminal activities. It also alleges that the platform could be used to share information about the sale of illegal goods such as drugs and age‑restricted items like vaping products and alcohol.
The investigation focuses on five key areas, with age verification taking centre stage. Snapchat’s terms of service state that users must be at least 13 years old, but the Commission thinks the self‑declared age check is insufficient and that children under 13 are not effectively blocked from access. In addition, the default account settings may not provide adequate privacy or safety protections for young users.
Another priority is the spread of content that advertises prohibited products. The Commission believes Snapchat’s content‑moderation tools are not robust enough to prevent such material from circulating, and that the mechanisms for reporting illegal content are not user‑friendly. The Commission will now conduct a thorough inquiry and collect further evidence to assess these allegations.
“From grooming and confronting illegal content to account settings that endanger the safety of minors, Snapchat appears to have overlooked that the Digital Services Act requires high safety standards for all users” said EU Commission Vice‑Chair Henna Virkkunen. “During this investigation we will scrutinise the company’s compliance with our legal provisions in detail”.
