Key Points:
·Lack of Regulation: Dutch Snapchat asked to take action to prevent teenagers from accessing e-cigarettes and other illegal transactions, but the actual results are poor.
·Doctor's Investigation: Doctors found that e-cigarette vendors can still be easily found on Snapchat through searches, indicating weak platform regulation.
·Enforcement Requests: Doctors have submitted enforcement requests to the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), accusing Snapchat of violating the Digital Services Act.
·Regulatory Response: ACM stated it will review the requests and stay in contact with the European Commission, emphasizing the importance of protecting minors.
·Snapchat's Response: Snapchat denied violating the DSA law, claiming to have invested heavily in preventing abuse but admitting it cannot completely eliminate all threats.
·Expert Advice: Experts suggest that Snapchat needs to closely monitor user content, even though this may result in legitimate content being mistakenly removed, as currently very little content is being deleted.
·Cost Issue: Experts point out that stricter regulation will require more manpower and time, potentially increasing Snapchat's costs.
According to RTL's report on August 27, in June 2025, the instant messaging app Snapchat was ordered by the Dutch government to take action to better protect children from being harmed by illegal e-cigarette, cigarette, and snuff transactions on the platform. The company held discussions with doctors, and Snapchat promised to make improvements in the short term.
To verify if there had indeed been any improvement, doctors asked 11 young people in the community to search for e-cigarette-related content on Snapchat before and after making a commitment. "The results revealed that nothing had changed," said Dr. Danielle Cohen, a pulmonologist at Leiden University Medical Center.
Before implementing the new rules on Snapchat, young people only needed to enter 16 different words (such as nicotine, e-cigarette, and tobacco) to find 607 tobacco vendors, but after the new rules were introduced, this number increased to 615. "And these searches are not difficult," Cohen explained.
Doctors have claimed that it is still very easy to find e-cigarette dealers on Snapchat, so they have formally requested the Dutch regulatory agency, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), for enforcement action. The Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation argues that Snapchat is violating the Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires companies on its platform to prevent the sale of illegal products and protect minors from harmful content.
ACM will now evaluate whether violations have occurred, and then decide whether to take enforcement action, such as issuing binding directives or fines.
In response to doctors' requests, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) stated, "Protecting minors is one of our regulatory priorities. Given the health risks for young people, we take this issue very seriously. We will review enforcement requests and stay in touch with the European Commission.
Snapchat says they have not violated the DSA law and are disappointed by the recent actions of doctors. "We have invested heavily in preventing malicious actors from abusing our platform and educating Snapchat users.
Unfortunately, there is no security feature or strategy that can eliminate all threats. It is for this reason that we continually adjust our strategies.
Pulmonologist Daniel Cohen believes that if Snapchat cannot provide the necessary security for minors, then the age limit should be raised. 'In that case, it becomes an app only for those 18 and older. It's unfortunate because I know young people enjoy using Snapchat to chat with friends. But now they have to constantly resist illegal behavior, which is difficult for minors, and they should not have to face such consequences.'
Paddy Leerssen, a researcher at the University of Amsterdam and an expert in DSA, reviewed the enforcement requests and accompanying documents. He stated that the doctors involved "have sufficient grounds" and "have made thorough preparations, collecting a large amount of evidence.
He agreed with Snapchat's perspective, believing that platforms can never completely block everything. "The question is: how easy is it to find? If what the doctors are saying is true, then e-cigarettes seem to be easily accessible now. If young people can easily find them, then Snapchat should be able to easily find them too.
Leerssen believes that Snapchat should closely monitor user content in order to remove more content. This could potentially result in legitimate content being deleted. "It's always a balancing act: deleting too much or too little. Right now, it seems that too little content is being deleted. But Snapchat must acknowledge the fact that there will be false reports; otherwise, they won't be able to address this issue at all.
Leerssen believes that Snapchat can do more, but ultimately it comes down to money. "This approach is more costly because it requires more manpower, which also means more time investment. And this is exactly what they want to avoid.
It is currently unclear when ACM will make a decision on the request for mandatory enforcement. This typically takes several months.
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