The European Commission has asked U.S. tech firms Snapchat (NYSE:SNAP), YouTube, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to provide details on how they undertake age verification on their respective platforms as part of a probe under the EU’s Digital Services Act.
The EC said on Friday it wants to scrutinize if the tech companies do enough to keep minors safe and enumerate the methods they use to prevent underage individuals from accessing illegal products like drugs and vapes or viewing harmful material, such as content promoting eating disorders, on their platforms.
Snapchat was asked by the EC to provide information about how it prevents children under 13 from accessing its services and on the features it has in place to prevent the sale of illegal goods for children.
The EC asked YouTube for information on its age assurance system and more details on its recommendation algorithm, following reports of harmful content being shown to minors.
For the Apple App Store and Google Play, the EC wants to know how the two companies manage the risk of users, including minors, being able to download illegal or harmful apps, like gambling and nudify apps, and also understand how their platforms apply apps’ age ratings.