Official EU investigation into Snapchat for the safety of minors

Summary

• Επίσημη Έρευνα: The European Commission announced on March 26, 2026 the launch of a formal investigation to determine whether Snapchat is violating the Digital Services Act (DSA).
• Main Control Axes: The process focuses on five areas, including inadequate age verification, targeting of minors for criminal activities (grooming), and exposure to illegal products (vapes, alcohol, drugs).
• Technical Gaps: Snapchat's "self-declaration" age system is considered technologically inadequate, as it does not effectively prevent access to users under 13 years of age nor protect those under 17.
• Possible Sanctions: If systemic violations are found, the platform faces the possibility of a fine that could reach up to 6% of its global annual turnover.
• Greek Interest: The decision directly affects the Greek market, where the application maintains a huge base of young users, raising pressing issues of digital security and parental control.

The stricter regulatory oversight of major technology platforms in Europe is now entering a new phase, with the European Commission targeting one of the most popular social networking applications. 

On March 26, 2026, the Commission he said the launch of a formal investigation against Snapchat, citing serious indications of systemic violations of the Digital Services Act (Digital Services Act – DSAThe core of the investigation concerns the platform's failure to guarantee a high level of security, privacy and protection for its underage users.

This specific development is not an isolated event, but is part of the European Union's broader strategy to impose strict operating standards on platforms with millions of active users (Very Large Online Platforms – VLOPs). Snapchat, which serves almost 95 million monthly users within the EU, is now required to prove whether its algorithms and security mechanisms act as a deterrent against malicious practices or whether, on the contrary, they facilitate them.

Because the European Union ερευνά το Snapchat;

The European Commission is investigating Snapchat for possible breaches of the Digital Services Act (DSA) on the protection of minors. The investigation focuses on inadequate age verification, exposure of children to illegal products such as e-cigarettes (vapes) and alcohol, and the risk of being approached by predators for sexual exploitation or criminal activities.

The 5 main axes of the Commission's investigation

According to the committee's official announcement, the process will focus on five distinct technical and functional areas of the application:

1. Age Assurance Systems: The Commission suspects that the current mechanisms are not sufficient to exclude children under 13 years of age, nor to correctly categorize adolescents under 17 years of age, who require specialized security arrangements.
2. Protection from Grooming and Criminal Recruitment: The ease with which adults (often altering their age on their profiles) can reach minors is being examined. Authorities are raising concerns about the platform's friend suggestion features, which may connect children with strangers.
3. Illegal Content Reporting Tools: Difficulties are being identified in the process of reporting accounts belonging to children under 13 years of age, with the relevant mechanism not being directly accessible within the application itself.
4. Default Security Settings: Whether the app offers the maximum possible privacy protection for minors' accounts by default, preventing the broad sharing of location data or personal information.
5. Sale of Prohibited Products: The failure of content moderation algorithms to prevent the distribution of information and advertisements for the sale of alcohol, drugs and electronic cigarettes (vapes) to underage individuals.

The technological inadequacy of "self-declaration" of age

The most significant technical flaw, according to regulators, is found in the method used by the Snapchat for verifying the age of users. The application is mainly based on simple "self-declaration" during account creation. Any user can declare a false date of birth, bypassing the restrictions with a simple click.

Η Κομισιόν θεωρεί ότι για πλατφόρμες αυτού του μεγέθους, τέτοιες πρακτικές είναι παρωχημένες και επικίνδυνες. Η νομοθεσία του DSA απαιτεί την ενσωμάτωση πιο προηγμένων τεχνολογιών εκτίμησης ηλικίας (όπως η ανάλυση συμπεριφοράς μέσω AI ή ο έλεγχος μέσω εγγράφων σε κρίσιμες συναλλαγές), προκειμένου να διασφαλίζεται το λεγόμενο «age-appropriate experience». In addition, the phenomenon of deliberate deception works both ways: minors declare themselves adults in order to access content without restrictions, and adults declare themselves minors in order to infiltrate children's networks.

Dutch research and the sale of vapes

The current intervention of the European Commission did not come out of the blue. It essentially absorbs and upgrades an investigation that had already been launched in September 2025 by the Dutch Consumer and Markets Authority (ACM). This specific investigation had focused on the uncontrolled sale of electronic cigarettes (vapes) to minors via Snapchat, following complaints from youth protection organizations. The Commission considered that the problem is not local, but has a systemic nature that concerns the entire European territory. In fact, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed so that executives of the Dutch authority could actively contribute to the European investigation.

Sanctions and consequences under the DSA

The legislative arsenal of Digital Services Act gives the European Union the power to impose draconian measures. The opening of the formal procedure allows the Commission to collect further evidence, conduct inspections and require the immediate application of interim measures. If Snapchat is ultimately found guilty of the infringements, it faces the possibility of a fine of up to 6% of its global annual turnover. At the same time, the company may be forced to radically redesign its algorithm and user interface (UI), under the threat of a complete suspension of operations within the EU in case of continued non-compliance.

A Snapchat spokesperson said the company "cooperates fully and transparently with the Commission", claiming that user security is a top priority and that the platform incorporates privacy protection features "by design."

What does this mean for our country?

Το οικοσύστημα των social media στην Ελλάδα παρουσιάζει μια σταθερή τάση: το Snapchat παραμένει εξαιρετικά δημοφιλές, ειδικά στις ηλικιακές ομάδες του Γυμνασίου και των πρώτων τάξεων του Λυκείου. Τα χαρακτηριστικά της εφαρμογής, όπως τα μηνύματα που εξαφανίζονται και η διαρκής ανταλλαγή φωτογραφιών, το καθιστούν ελκυστικό για τους νέους. Ωστόσο, η απουσία ουσιαστικού γονικού ελέγχου και η ευκολία δημιουργίας λογαριασμού καθιστούν τους Έλληνες ανηλίκους το ίδιο ευάλωτους με τους συνομηλίκους τους στην υπόλοιπη Ευρώπη.

In the domestic market, phenomena of minors being approached by strangers or the distribution of information about points of sale of tobacco and alcohol products through closed groups are not unknown. The pressure now exerted by the Commission may force the platform to implement horizontal geographical restrictions, which means that Greek users will likely immediately see changes in the way their data is verified (e.g. requiring stricter identification through parents' banking systems, as is being discussed internationally).

Techgear's view

From a purely technological perspective, the “self-declaration” model (the classic drop-down menu where the user selects that they were born in 1990 to bypass the verification) has failed. As a platform, Snapchat has invested heavily in augmented reality (AR) and ad targeting algorithms, which proves that it has the computing power and know-how to develop highly accurate behavioral estimation models.

The company’s failure to implement the same level of technological sophistication to protect minors is not a matter of technical weakness, but a design choice aimed at maintaining high registration numbers. The European Union’s intervention through the DSA finally puts the issue of code responsibility on the table. The technology to protect children exists, but what was missing was the legal and economic pressure to implement it. The next day for social media in Europe requires a radical redesign of their interfaces, away from the logic of uncontrolled onboarding.