European Union regulators on Thursday started an investigation into child protection safeguards at Snap, the latest in a series of cases worldwide challenging social media platforms over safety for younger users.
Officials in Brussels accused Snap of having an ineffective age-verification system to keep children under the age of 13 off the company’s social media service Snapchat. The company’s algorithm also often misclassifies users age 13 to 17 as adults, then steers them toward inappropriate experiences, regulators said.
Social media companies are under growing scrutiny amid a wider debate about child protection online. On Wednesday, a California jury found Meta and YouTube harmed the mental health of a young user with addictive design features — a landmark case that could lead to further lawsuits. Earlier this week, a New Mexico jury found Meta liable for violating state laws by failing to protect users from child predators.
Across Europe, policymakers are examining new laws to limit children’s social media use. Governments in France, Denmark and Spain are among those exploring banning young people from the platforms, which many policymakers see as addictive and harmful to mental health.
In February, European Union regulators issued a preliminary decision against TikTok for its “addictive design” that poses potential harm to the “physical and mental well-being” of users, including minors. Meta is also facing an investigation, started in 2024, for the protection of child users on Instagram and Facebook.
On Thursday, European regulators accused Snap of not adequately protecting minors from being contacted by adults posing as children for recruitment in sexual exploitation and criminal activities. The company is being investigated under the Digital Services Act, a law passed in 2022 to force online companies to more aggressively police their platforms for illicit behavior. The act “demands high safety standards for all users,” Henna Virkkunen, the European commissioner overseeing digital policy, said in a statement.
Snap says it does not allow users under the age of 13. But the European Commission said many of the platform’s 97 million users across the 27-nation bloc are under that age. In Denmark, half of 10-year-olds use Snapchat. In France, almost a third of 11-year-olds report using Snapchat.
“Once on the platform, children are exposed to dangerous contacts for grooming, and even worse, they can buy prohibited products such as drugs, vapes and alcohol,” said Thomas Regnier, a spokesman for the European Commission, in a news conference on Thursday.
How long the investigation may last is not clear. The company could face fines of up to 6 percent of its global revenue, though regulators rarely issue penalties that high.
Snap said it was cooperating with European regulators.
“Snapchat is designed to help people communicate with close friends and family in a positive, trusted environment, with privacy and safety built in from the start — including additional protections for teens,” the company said in a statement. “As online risks evolve, we continuously review, strengthen, and invest in these safeguards.”
The European Union is working toward the introduction of a “digital wallet” for providing proof of age without disclosing other personal information.
In another online child safety case announced on Thursday, European regulators issued a preliminary ruling against several pornography platforms for not preventing minors from gaining access to their services. Many of the sites only require users to click a button saying that they are over 18 before reaching the content.
Koba Ryckewaert contributed reporting from Brussels.
Adam Satariano is a technology correspondent for The Times, based in London.
The post Snapchat Investigated in Europe Over Child Safety Policies appeared first on New York Times.
