The probe, announced on Thursday, falls under the Digital Services Act, which requires large platforms to protect against harmful and illegal content or face heavy penalties.

EU officials say they are investigating how the app handles risks such as child grooming, exposure to drugs and other illegal goods, and weak account protections for younger users.

“From grooming ⁠and exposure to illegal products to account settings that undermine minors’ safety, Snapchat appears to have overlooked that the Digital Services Act demands high safety standards for all users,” EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said in a statement.

At the centre of the case is whether Snapchat has put in place enough precautions to stop adults from contacting or exploiting minors. Regulators are also examining how easily illegal goods such as drugs, vapes and alcohol can be promoted or sold through the platform.

The European Commission said Snapchat’s content moderation tools may not be strong enough to prevent such activity.

It also spoke about the company’s age verification system, which largely relies on users declaring their own age, as well as default settings that could leave younger users exposed.

Another issue under review is the platform’s design, including features regulators describe as “dark patterns”, which may make it harder for users to report problems or understand privacy settings.

Snapchat, owned by Snap Inc., said it is working with regulators and reviewing its systems to ensure child safety and general protection.

“We have fully cooperated with the Commission to date – engaging proactively, transparently and working in good faith to meet the DSA’s high safety standards – and we will continue to do so throughout this ‌investigation,” a spokesperson said.

The Commission has also taken over an earlier investigation by Dutch authorities into the alleged sale of vapes to minors on the platform.

Snapchat has about 97 million monthly users across the EU, most of them teenagers and young adults. Regulators believe this makes the platform particularly vulnerable to abuse, including cases where adults pose as minors to target younger users.

Under the Digital Services Act, companies found in breach can be fined up to 6% of their global annual revenue. With Snap reporting about $5.2 billion in revenue last year, any penalty could run into hundreds of millions of dollars.

Generally, investigations regarding child safety and other aspects are already underway into TikTok, Meta Platforms, and AliExpress, among others, as regulators step up enforcement of the law, hence, this isn’t limited to Snapchat.

Brussels has made known it wants the Digital Services Act to set the standard for online safety, especially when it comes to protecting children.

The company said the new accounts will limit pre-teens to basic messaging and calling features. They will not receive adverts and will not have access to several functions available on standard accounts.

WhatsApp rates its service for users aged 13 and above on app stores. However, many younger children already use the app to stay in touch with their parents and family members.

The company said the new system was created after hearing from parents who wanted a safer way for their children to communicate on the platform.

“We’ve heard from parents, who have bought mobile phones for their pre-teens, that they want to message them on WhatsApp. Parent-managed accounts are specifically designed to give additional control over settings and communications for this group,” the company said.

To set up the account, a parent or guardian must have both devices present, their own phone and the child’s phone. The accounts are linked by scanning a QR code during the setup process.

Once connected, the parent controls the account. They can decide who the child can communicate with and which groups the account may join.

Parents will also receive alerts about certain activities. By default, they are notified when the child adds, blocks or reports a contact.

Other alerts are optional and these include when the child changes their name or profile picture, receives a new chat request, joins or leaves a group, or deletes a conversation or contact.

All parental management is protected by a six-digit PIN, which the parent can create and manage from their own device.

WhatsApp said the parent-managed accounts will not support several features currently available on the platform. Pre-teen users will not be able to access Meta AI, Channels or Status updates. They also cannot enable disappearing messages in one-to-one chats.

Despite the restrictions, the company said all conversations will remain private.

“All personal conversations remain private and protected with end-to-end encryption, meaning no one, not even WhatsApp, can see or hear them.”

The app will also provide warnings when children receive messages from people outside their contacts. These notices show whether the sender shares any groups with the user and which country the contact is messaging from.

In addition, images sent by unknown contacts will appear blurred by default. Users can also silence calls from unfamiliar numbers.

Message requests from people outside the child’s contact list will appear in a separate folder. Parents must unlock that folder with their PIN before deciding whether to approve the request.

The same rule applies to group invitations. Before allowing a child to join, the app shows details such as the number of group members and the group administrator.

WhatsApp said children will be notified when they reach the age required for a standard account. Parents will also have the option to delay the switch by up to 12 months.

The company has begun rolling out the feature in selected countries and plans to expand it gradually.

The update adds to safety tools introduced by Meta across its platforms in recent years, particularly for younger users on services such as Instagram and Facebook.

Filed in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands on St Croix, the case claims Meta knowingly allows harmful and fraudulent adverts to circulate because they boost engagement and profits. 

This is the first time a territorial attorney general has moved directly against the company over these issues.

“Meta knowingly and intentionally exposes its users to fraud and harm. It does so to maximise user engagement and, in turn, its revenue,” the lawsuit states.

At the heart of the case is reporting that revealed Meta internally expected around 10% of its 2024 revenue, roughly $16 billion, to come from scam ads, illegal gambling and banned products. 

The same reporting showed that advertisers suspected of fraud were not blocked unless Meta’s internal systems reached a 95% certainty threshold, allowing many harmful ads to remain live.

Two U.S. senators urged the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to step in and investigate the company’s advertising practices, calling for strong enforcement where needed. That now appears to be spilling beyond Washington and into the courts.

Virgin Islands Attorney General Gordon C. Rhea said the lawsuit “marks the first effort by an attorney general to address reports of rampant fraud and scams on Meta’s platforms.” 

The case seeks penalties under local consumer protection laws and accuses Meta of misleading users, parents and regulators about how safe its platforms really are.

“Meta repeatedly touts the ‘safety’ of its platforms to its users, parents, regulators, and Congress,” the lawsuit states. “Meta consistently, and intentionally, fails to implement the policies it writes.”

More than 42 U.S. state attorneys general have already sued Meta over assertions that it has failed to shield young users from harmful content. The Virgin Islands case builds on that and could open the door for other territories to follow suit.

Child safety is a major theme. Earlier reporting also revealed complaints about internal guidelines governing Meta’s automated systems, which allowed them to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual.” 

Meta later said it removed those sections, but the lawsuit argues that the company’s public assurances do not match its internal practices.

Meta responded with spokesman Andy Stone dismissing the accusations and pointing to earlier company statements rejecting the allegations.

“We aggressively fight fraud and scams because people on our platforms don’t want this content, legitimate advertisers don’t want it and we don’t want it either,” he said. He added that reports of scams from users have fallen by half over the past 18 months.

On youth protection, Stone was equally firm. “We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people,” he said.

Brussels is pressing these platforms, classified as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) due to their reach of over 45 million EU users, to prove that they are taking real steps to shield children from illegal and harmful content. This includes exposure to drugs, vaping products, and material that promotes eating disorders.

The EU request centres on the companies’ age verification tools and internal measures for restricting harmful material regarding child safety. Officials also want explanations on how their algorithms handle potentially addictive recommendation systems and how app stores manage access to gambling, sexual content, and so-called “nudify” applications.

“Today, alongside national authorities in the member states, we are assessing whether the measures taken so far by the platforms are indeed protecting children,” said EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen.

The case is part of an enforcement under the DSA, the EU’s digital law designed to make tech giants more accountable for content circulating on their platforms. The Commission has issued formal Requests for Information (RFIs), a step that could lead to full investigations and fines reaching up to 6% of global turnover if breaches are confirmed.

Beyond enforcement, the EU is exploring policy changes, including setting a bloc-wide “digital age of majority” that could restrict minors’ access to certain online services, an idea inspired by Australia’s under-16 social media ban.

In the United States, several states such as Utah and Arkansas now require parental consent for minors to use social media. Meanwhile, within Europe, Denmark is pushing for a national social media ban for users under 15, while France and Spain have publicly backed tighter digital age limits.

The EU child safety investigation follows its child protection guidelines published in July 2025, which laid out clearer expectations for compliance with the DSA.

The decision follows cases within government circles over what they describe as a “pattern of negligence” by social media firms in responding to police requests. Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil criticised TikTok’s response times.

“TikTok was very slow in providing information… to the point that I had to call TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to inform him, ‘this is a crime that’s being committed and your organisation is very slow’,” Fahmi said, warning that such behaviour would not be tolerated.

The trigger for this confrontation was a viral TikTok video in which a man falsely claimed to be a pathologist working on the investigation into the death of Zara Qairina Mahathir, a case that has attracted public attention. Authorities say TikTok’s delay in handling the matter forced the minister to personally intervene.

Top executives of TikTok are expected to appear at Malaysia’s federal police headquarters, Bukit Aman, on Thursday. The Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General will also attend the meeting.

Meta has not been spared as the company, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is being summoned over disturbing materials linked to paedophilia that spread across its platforms, including content uncovered during a cybercrime operation known as Operation Pedo. 

Authorities have specifically flagged an online group called Geng Budak Sekolah, which circulated indecent content targeting children.

The Malaysian government has classified several categories of online activity as harmful. These include gambling, scams, child pornography and grooming, cyberbullying, and content linked to race, religion, and royalty. Officials argue that these categories pose both social and national security risks.

Fahmi has insisted that every platform must comply with local laws and respond quickly to enforcement requests. “We see these platforms are not taking the matter seriously, so the dialogue process will continue, and we will stress that Malaysian law applies to them and they must comply. We will summon every platform,” he said.

At the Al Grand Prix Conference 2025, Fahmi also disclosed that Malaysia is considering mandatory identity verification for all online sales and advertising. The proposal is intended to limit fake accounts, deepfakes, and fraud. Singapore already enforces a similar policy, and Malaysia is positioning itself to follow that model.

The issue aligns with international trends where Governments from India to Indonesia, and even within the European Union, are tightening regulations on global tech giants, imposing fines, and in some cases threatening outright bans for non-compliance.

Neither TikTok nor Meta has issued an immediate public response to Malaysia’s latest move.

The request was for detailed information about the platform’s efforts to tackle child sexual exploitation material.

X initially contested the fine, arguing that a corporate restructuring in 2022, when Elon Musk took Twitter private and merged it into a new entity, freed the company from having to comply with the request issued in early 2023. However, the Federal Court of Australia disagreed, ruling that the platform was still bound to provide the information.

Julie Inman Grant, the eSafety Commissioner, noted that if accepted, it could have set a dangerous precedent. She stated that such corporate mergers could allow international companies to sidestep regulatory obligations in Australia, undermining internet safety efforts.

The penalty relates to a current inquiry into how tech companies, including X, are managing harmful content, particularly involving child protection. The eSafety Commissioner had requested specific details on the platform’s anti-child abuse strategies, which X failed to provide. In addition to the fine, civil proceedings have also been initiated against the company due to its noncompliance.

Musk’s X has faced previous clashes with the Australian internet safety regulator. Earlier this year, the eSafety office ordered the platform to remove content showing a violent incident involving a bishop being attacked during a sermon. 

X challenged that directive, arguing that regulators in one nation should not dictate what content is visible worldwide. The Australian regulator eventually dropped the case, and X kept the posts online. Musk criticised the order, labelling it as an act of censorship and linked it to a larger agenda by international bodies like the World Economic Forum.

This latest legal setback adds to Musk’s growing list of challenges in managing the platform since his takeover, particularly as it continues to face questions from regulators around the world.

Emphasizing responsible AI deployment and user protection, OpenAI’s Child Safety team collaborates closely with its Legal, Platform Policy, and Investigations departments, as well as external partners, to manage processes, incidents, and reviews pertaining to underage users. 

The team’s primary objective is to prevent the misuse or abuse of AI technologies by children, ensuring a safe online space for all users.

The recent reveal of the Child Safety team coincides with heightened scrutiny from both activists and parents regarding the impact of AI on young users. OpenAI has recognized the impact of digital interactions and the need for assertive measures to address potential risks.

A key aspect of OpenAI’s child safety initiative is the recruitment of a child safety enforcement specialist. This specialist will be highly essential in implementing OpenAI’s policies regarding AI-generated content and will be actively involved in reviewing processes related to sensitive content, particularly content targeted at children.

The move by OpenAI to prioritize child safety aligns with industry trends, where tech vendors are increasingly dedicating resources to comply with regulations such as the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule. 

OpenAI aims to comply with existing regulations and address potential challenges associated with underage AI usage.

The proliferation of AI tools among children and teenagers points to the importance of ensuring that these technologies are used responsibly and ethically. While AI can offer valuable assistance in various aspects of life, including education and personal development, it also carries inherent risks, especially when misused or misunderstood.

Efforts to establish guidelines for the responsible use of AI in education are gaining sight globally. Organizations like UNESCO advocate for government regulation to safeguard users, particularly minors, from potential harm and to uphold standards of data protection and user privacy.