Snapchat Said to Be Under Scrutiny From UK Watchdog Over Underage Users

Britain’s data watchdog is gathering information from Snapchat to determine whether the U.S. messaging app is doing enough to remove underage users from its platform, two people familiar with the matter said.

Reuters exclusively reported in March that Snapchat owner Snap removed dozens of children under the age of 13 from its U.K. platform last year alone, while U.K. media watchdog Ofcom estimated the company had thousands of underage users.

Under UK data protection law, social media companies require parental consent before processing the data of children under 13. Social media companies, which typically require users to be 13 or older, have had mixed success in keeping children off their platforms.

Snapchat declined to share details of any steps it might take to reduce the number of underage users.

A Snap spokesperson said: “We share the ICO’s (Information Commissioner’s Office) goal of ensuring digital platforms are age-appropriate and support the responsibilities set out in the Children’s Code.”

“We will continue to engage in a constructive dialogue with them about the work we are doing to achieve this goal,” they added.

ICOs typically gather information related to alleged breaches before launching any formal investigation. It may issue an information notice formally requesting internal data that may assist the investigation before deciding whether to impose a fine on the individual or organization under investigation.

Last year, Ofcom found that 60% of children aged eight to 11 had at least one social media account, often created by giving false dates of birth. It also found that Snapchat was the most popular app for underage social media users.

Following the Reuters report, the ICO received a flood of complaints from the public about Snap’s handling of children’s data, a person familiar with the matter said.

Some of the complaints relate to Snapchat not doing enough to keep young children off its platform, the sources said.

The ICO has spoken to users and other regulators to assess whether there were any violations by Snap, the sources said.

An ICO spokesman told Reuters they would continue to monitor and evaluate the methods Snap and other social media platforms take to prevent underage children from accessing their platforms.

A decision on whether to launch a formal investigation into Snapchat will be made in the coming months, the sources said.

Platform pressure

If the ICO finds that Snap violated its rules, the company could face a fine equal to 4 percent of its global annual turnover, which equates to $184 million (roughly 15.22 billion rupees), according to Reuters calculations. on its latest financial results.

Snapchat and other social media companies are under pressure around the world to better police content on their platforms.

The NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) said it had obtained data showing that 43 per cent of cases of using social media to spread indecent images of children were via Snapchat.

Snapchat did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

Earlier this year, the ICO fined TikTok £12.7 million ($16.2 million) for misusing children’s data, saying the Snap rival had not “taken sufficient action” to delete the data.

A TikTok spokesperson said at the time that the company “invests heavily” in preventing children under the age of 13 from using the platform and that its 40,000-person security team works “around the clock” to keep the platform safe.

Does Snapchat prevent users from signing up with a date of birth under 13? However, other apps have taken more proactive steps to prevent underage children from accessing their platforms.

For example, if children under 13 fail to sign up for TikTok using their real date of birth, the app will continue to prevent them from creating an account.

© Thomson Reuters 2023


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