"The European Union has opened a formal investigation into whether Snapchat has breached Digital Services Act (DSA) regulations regarding the safeguarding of children using its app. Regulators say that the company, whose audience demographic has always skewed young, may not be doing enough to protect minors from grooming and "recruitment for criminal purposes.""
"Brussels argues that while Snapchat requires users to be at least 13 years of age to sign up for an account, its self-declaration age assurance system may not be an adequate means of ensuring those younger than the minimum age can't engage with the platform."
"Investigators believe that the app itself doesn't allow for other users to report accounts they suspect are being used by people younger than the minimum age requirements. Moreover, they argue that reporting illegal content found on the app is not easy enough."
"Other issues being looked at by the European Commission include child and teen accounts being recommended to other users by Snapchat's Find Friends feature and insufficient guidance on available account safety features."
The European Union has initiated a formal investigation into Snapchat for possible violations of the Digital Services Act regarding child safety. Concerns include insufficient measures to protect minors from grooming and access to illegal content. The EU argues that Snapchat's age verification system is inadequate, allowing younger users to engage with the platform. Investigators are examining the ease of reporting underage accounts and illegal content, as well as the recommendation of child accounts to other users. Evidence gathering is currently underway.
Read at Engadget
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