The European Commission is investigating Snapchat for possible violations of EU rules regarding the protection of minors.
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The European executive has opened a formal procedure under the Digital Services Act to verify whether Snapchat ensures a high level of safety, confidentiality, and security for children and adolescents in the online environment.
The European Commission has opened a formal procedure to investigate whether Snapchat complies with the obligations of the Digital Services Act regarding the protection of minors, especially in terms of safety, confidentiality, and online security. According to the European executive, the platform may not provide sufficient guarantees against grooming attempts, recruitment for criminal activities, and exposure to information about the sale of illegal or restricted products based on age.
In short
The European Commission has opened a formal procedure against Snapchat under the Digital Services Act.
The investigation targets five areas: age verification, protection of minors against harmful contacts, default account settings, dissemination of information about prohibited products, and mechanisms for reporting illegal content.
The Commission suspects that simple self-declaration of age is not sufficient to prevent access for children under 13 years old and does not adequately differentiate users under 17 years old.
The European executive believes that Snapchat may not sufficiently prevent minors' exposure to grooming, recruitment for criminal activities, and content related to drugs, vapes, or alcohol.
The opening of the procedure allows the Commission to move to enforcement measures, including interim measures, a non-compliance decision, or the acceptance of commitments from the company.
Note RO
The European Commission has announced that it is investigating whether Snapchat ensures a high level of protection for children and adolescents, as required by the Digital Services Act for online platforms. According to the statement, the suspicions concern both how the service verifies users' ages and how the platform reduces systemic risks for minors.
The first area analyzed is age verification. The Commission points out that, according to Snapchat's own terms and conditions, users must be at least 13 years old to use the platform. However, the European executive suspects that reliance on self-declaration as a method of age verification is insufficient, as it does not effectively prevent access for children under 13 years old and does not adequately assess whether users are under 17 years old, an element considered necessary to provide an age-appropriate experience. Additionally, the Commission suspects that the tool through which users can report the presence of children under 13 years old is not available in the app.
The second tier of the investigation targets the protection of minors against harmful contacts. The Commission believes that Snapchat may not adequately protect children and adolescents from users seeking sexual exploitation or recruitment for criminal activities. According to Brussels, if adults who do not declare their real age at registration or modify it later can present themselves as minors, the platform may not apply sufficient guarantees to protect children from harmful content, risky contacts, dangerous behaviors, and other risks.
The Commission is also investigating the default account settings. The suspicion is that these do not provide sufficient confidentiality, safety, and security protection for minors. Among the mentioned examples are the fact that minors are automatically recommended to other users through the "Find Friends" system, that push notifications remain activated by default, and that, upon account creation, users do not receive sufficient guidance regarding privacy and safety features or clear explanations on how to adjust the settings.
A fourth area concerns the dissemination of information about the sale of prohibited or restricted products. Under the Digital Services Act, online platforms must reduce systemic risks generated by their services. The Commission suspects that Snapchat does not comply with this obligation, as its content moderation tools do not seem effective in preventing the circulation of information directing users towards the sale of illegal products, such as drugs, or restricted products based on age, including vapes and alcohol. According to the European executive, the platform does not seem to effectively prevent access for children and adolescents to such content.
The fifth point of the procedure refers to reporting illegal content. The Commission suspects that the current mechanisms for reporting illegal content are neither easily accessible nor easy to use and that their design may include so-called dark patterns. Additionally, Brussels suspects that Snapchat does not adequately inform users about the possibilities for contesting and remedying, including through the internal complaint resolution system.
The Executive Vice President for technological sovereignty, security, and democracy, Henna Virkkunen, stated that "from grooming and exposure to illegal products to account settings that undermine the safety of minors, Snapchat seems to have ignored the fact that the Digital Services Act requires high safety standards for all users. Through this investigation, we will closely examine compliance with our legislation."
The Commission specified that it will now conduct a thorough investigation, which involves collecting additional evidence, including through information requests addressed to Snapchat, interviews, or inspections. The opening of the formal procedure allows the Commission to adopt additional enforcement measures, such as interim measures and a non-compliance decision. The institution may also accept commitments from Snapchat to remedy the issues identified in the procedure.
The European executive also points out that, with the opening of the procedure, it takes over the coordination of the investigation launched on September 9, 2025, by the Dutch coordinator for digital services, the Consumer and Market Authority, regarding the sale of vapes to minors on Snapchat. The Dutch authority will remain associated with the Commission's investigation and will continue to support it.
The Commission explains that it has used the 2025 guidelines on the protection of minors under the Digital Services Act as a benchmark to assess compliance with the obligation to ensure a high level of confidentiality, safety, and security for minors. These guidelines state that self-declaration should not be considered a reliable method of age verification, that minors should not be easily identifiable by adults or recommended to adults as contacts, and that default settings and interface design for children should be configured to the highest available level of protection.
The opening of the investigation is based on the analysis of Snapchat's risk assessment reports for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025, as well as on the platform's responses to an information request sent on October 10, 2025. The Commission states that it has also taken into account information collected by the Dutch authority in the investigation regarding the sale of vapes to minors, as well as contributions from the competent German authority, academic researchers, civil society organizations, and other public authorities.
The Digital Services Act gives citizens the right to file complaints regarding possible violations of the regulation to the digital services coordinator in their member state. The Commission also reminds that it has established a tool for whistleblowers, which allows individuals with relevant information to contact the institution anonymously to contribute to monitoring compliance with obligations by very large online platforms and very large search engines designated under the regulation.
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