COPENHAGEN/BRUSSELS - The European Commission has asked Apple, Google, Snapchat and YouTube for detailed information on the protection of underage users online. The aim is to check whether these tech companies are complying with their obligations under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) legislation. The Commission's move was announced on Friday by its Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, who is attending an informal meeting of telecoms ministers in Copenhagen.
Virkkunen said protecting children online is one of the EU's top priorities. "We want to make sure that the big platforms follow their binding rules and that underage users are protected from harmful or inappropriate content," she said. The Commission is now collecting data on how companies verify the age of users, what mechanisms they have in place to limit access to inappropriate content and how they handle children's personal data.
The European DSA legislation, which came into force in 2022, imposes strict transparency and security obligations on large digital platforms. If the Commission finds companies in breach of the rules, they could face fines of up to six percent of their global turnover. Companies have several weeks to respond.
On the basis of the information received, the Commission may decide to open a formal investigation. In the past, the social network TikTok, for example, has been asked to explain itself in a similar way and has had to adapt its procedures for handling minors' data. The European Commission stresses that the digital environment must be safe for all users, especially children and young people, who are among the most vulnerable groups.
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