European Commission has requested Snapchat, YouTube, Apple App Store and Google Play to provide information in order to understand the measures they have taken to protect minors within their services. This action follows the adoption of the Guidelines on Protection of Minors in the online environment under the Digital Services Act (DSA), issued by the European Commission.
At the end of the last week, the Commission requested Snapchat, YouTube, Apple App Store and Google Play to provide information on their age verification systems and on the measures they have in place to prevent minors from accessing illegal products (e.g. drugs or vapes), or harmful content (e.g. promoting eating disorders).
Measures verified by the European Commission
The Commission has requested Snapchat to provide information about how it prevents children under 13 years from accessing its services, as prohibited by the platform’s Terms of Service. It also requested details about the measures Snapchat takes to prevent the sale of illegal goods to minors, such as electronic cigarettes (vapes) or drugs.
With regards to YouTube, in addition to information on its age assurance system, the Commission requested further details about the platform’s recommendation system, following reports indicating the dissemination of harmful content to minors.
From Apple App Store and Google Play, the Commission requested information on how they manage the risk of users, including minors, being able to download illegal or harmful apps – including gambling apps and tools to create non-consensual sexualised content, the so-called „nudify apps”. The Commission is also seeking to understand how the two app stores apply apps’ age ratings.
Other actions to verify the implementation of measures for the protection of minors in the online environment
The Working Group on the Protection of Minors within the European Board for Digital Services agreed to undertake, in coordination with the competent national authorities of the Member States, actions aimed to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Digital Services Act (DSA) by smaller online platforms.
These actions will include identifying platforms that pose a high level of risk for children and verifying their compliance with the high safety standards for minors required by the DSA.
Additionally, the working group will develop and provide common tools for investigation and enforcement activities, to ensure consistent implementation of the DSA across the entire European Union.
A new version of the framework method for age verification
European Commission has launched an improved framework for age verification on which applications can be built. The new version allows the use of passports and ID cards as authentication methods (“onboarding”), in addition to electronic identifiers (eID) for generating proof of age.
It also introduces support for a more user-friendly method of presenting age proof through Digital Credentials API, which is increasingly available in modern operating systems and browsers.
Guidelines on the protection of minors in the online environment
The Guidelines apply to all online platforms accessible to minors, except for micro and small enterprises and comprise a list of non-exhaustive list of proportional and appropriate measures to protect minors from online risks.
The Guidelines are now also available in Romanian.
Both the European Commission and ANCOM will use these Guidelines in assessing compliance with the obligations set out in Article 28, paragraph (1) of the Digital Services Act by intermediary service providers. However, compliance with the Guidelines is voluntary and does not automatically guarantee compliance with the DSA.
