European Commission says social messaging app is exposing children to grooming and sexual exploitation
Brussels has opened an investigation into Snapchat over concerns that the social messaging app is exposing children to grooming, sexual exploitation and other criminality.
In a separate decision on Thursday, the European Commission also said four pornographic websites were failing to prevent minors seeing adult content.
The investigations into five tech companies were brought under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which has come under fire from Donald Trump since coming into force two years ago. Aiming to protect European society from a wide-range of internet harms, the DSA includes child safety provisions to combat cyberbullying, exposure to adult content and illegal products.
The announcements came after a landmark ruling in a Los Angeles court found that two social media giants, Meta and YouTube, had deliberately created addictive products that harmed a young user. The EU is currently weighing whether to follow Australia and ban social media for the under 16s,
